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> President Joe Biden recently criticized the policy, saying it's "simply wrong" to seize journalists' records. The FBI is part of DOJ, which is an executive b

> President Joe Biden recently criticized the policy, saying it's "simply wrong" to seize journalists' records. The FBI is part of DOJ, which is an executive branch department under Biden's direct authority. If he thinks it's "simply wrong", he can just order them not to do it. He's not limited to "criticizing" it.

bowmessage 5y ago
Good point. I'm not sure he's even aware of that option, unfortunately.
- hellow0rldz 5y ago
  Oh, he is. But it's good PR to make positive statements while doing whatever you want.
  - Sebguer 5y ago
    He literally did ban the practice, though, and the quoted line is after the reporting saying he did so?
    - hellow0rldz 5y ago
      No he did not. He gave a "direction". Which, legally, means almost nothing. > “Going forward, consistent with the President’s direction, this Department of Justice – in a change to its longstanding practice – will not seek compulsory legal process in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media doing their jobs,” Anthony Coley, Justice Department spokesman, said in a statement. They are changing a "practice". One uses laws to prevent practices one does not like, not "directions".
      - ncallaway 5y ago
        > One uses laws to prevent practices one does not like, not "directions". If you want a law to prevent this I'm not sure why you're criticizing Biden. He is the President, no the Legislature. If you think there should be a law, then your complaint should be for congress.
        hellow0rldz 5y ago
        Is there a written order from the President saying this. Is it public somewhere? If not, it's just PR.
      - colejohnson66 5y ago
        Well, considering the DOJ is under his control, it’s not a “direction”, but a “law” of sorts. Actual laws come from Congress, which Biden doesn’t control.
        hellow0rldz 5y ago
        Same question to you: is there a written order from the President saying this? Is it public somewhere? If not, it's just PR.
- GavinMcG 5y ago
  Are you suggesting he's senile? Stupid? It's not clear why you'd think someone with Biden's political experience would be unaware that the President is the head of the executive branch.
  - Supermancho 5y ago
    > Are you suggesting he's senile? Forgetful at the very least. Senile is unnecessarily pejorative. He's an old man who doesnt do much more than make political speeches in public. > Biden's political experience His team's political experience is more important, like almost all POTUS before him.
Sebguer 5y ago
He did: "Going forward, consistent with the President's direction, this Department of Justice – in a change to its longstanding practice – will not seek compulsory legal process in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media doing their jobs," Justice Department spokesman Anthon Coley said in a statement Saturday.
- tootie 5y ago
  This was not a leak investigation and they weren't after sources. The article mentions the completely unrelated change in policy regarding some other cases. The only correlation is they involve newspapers.
- mr_toad 5y ago
  > in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media That means they won’t subpoena journalists phone records when looking for whistleblowers. It doesn’t mean they won’t go after reader’s IP when looking for other suspects.
jrockway 5y ago
I think the article is conflating two points. Biden banned the practice of compelling journalists to provide the identity of their sources. That is totally unrelated to this subpoena, which is attempting to get a list of people that read a certain article. Obviously it's also wrong to seek this information, but it's not what Biden was talking about in the quote.

bowmessage 5y ago

Good point. I'm not sure he's even aware of that option, unfortunately.

hellow0rldz 5y ago
Oh, he is. But it's good PR to make positive statements while doing whatever you want.
- Sebguer 5y ago
  He literally did ban the practice, though, and the quoted line is after the reporting saying he did so?
  - hellow0rldz 5y ago
    No he did not. He gave a "direction". Which, legally, means almost nothing. > “Going forward, consistent with the President’s direction, this Department of Justice – in a change to its longstanding practice – will not seek compulsory legal process in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media doing their jobs,” Anthony Coley, Justice Department spokesman, said in a statement. They are changing a "practice". One uses laws to prevent practices one does not like, not "directions".
    - ncallaway 5y ago
      > One uses laws to prevent practices one does not like, not "directions". If you want a law to prevent this I'm not sure why you're criticizing Biden. He is the President, no the Legislature. If you think there should be a law, then your complaint should be for congress.
      - hellow0rldz 5y ago
        Is there a written order from the President saying this. Is it public somewhere? If not, it's just PR.
    - colejohnson66 5y ago
      Well, considering the DOJ is under his control, it’s not a “direction”, but a “law” of sorts. Actual laws come from Congress, which Biden doesn’t control.
      - hellow0rldz 5y ago
        Same question to you: is there a written order from the President saying this? Is it public somewhere? If not, it's just PR.
GavinMcG 5y ago
Are you suggesting he's senile? Stupid? It's not clear why you'd think someone with Biden's political experience would be unaware that the President is the head of the executive branch.
- Supermancho 5y ago
  > Are you suggesting he's senile? Forgetful at the very least. Senile is unnecessarily pejorative. He's an old man who doesnt do much more than make political speeches in public. > Biden's political experience His team's political experience is more important, like almost all POTUS before him.

Sebguer 5y ago

He did: "Going forward, consistent with the President's direction, this Department of Justice – in a change to its longstanding practice – will not seek compulsory legal process in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media doing their jobs," Justice Department spokesman Anthon Coley said in a statement Saturday.

tootie 5y ago
This was not a leak investigation and they weren't after sources. The article mentions the completely unrelated change in policy regarding some other cases. The only correlation is they involve newspapers.
mr_toad 5y ago
> in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media That means they won’t subpoena journalists phone records when looking for whistleblowers. It doesn’t mean they won’t go after reader’s IP when looking for other suspects.

jrockway 5y ago

I think the article is conflating two points. Biden banned the practice of compelling journalists to provide the identity of their sources. That is totally unrelated to this subpoena, which is attempting to get a list of people that read a certain article. Obviously it's also wrong to seek this information, but it's not what Biden was talking about in the quote.