FOR THE MONITOR

The left’s simmering disdain for free speech went public this week. The Obama Administration’s abuse of power finally turned much of the left-leaning press corps against this increasingly Nixonian White House.

The final straw was the revelation that the Justice Department secretly seized two months of phone records from 20 separate Associated Press phone lines. The seizure was part of a criminal investigation into leaks revealed in May 2012 AP story on the foiled Underwear Bomb plot.

The Federal Department of Justice has “bailed out” New Hampshire from the preclearance requirements of the Voting Right Acts, meaning that state officials no longer have to notify the DOJ about any changes to election laws in ten New Hampshire towns. The Concord Monitor’s Ben Leubsdorf reports on the decision.

CBS News reports that the Justice Department threatened to kick out a newspaper reporter for reporting what a Justice Department official said at a public hearing.