Reporter's Phone Records Subpoenaed By Pete Yost Associated Press Writer Monday, Aug. 27, 2001; 6:44 p.m. EDT WASHINGTON The Justice Department obtained by subpoena the home telephone records of an Associated Press reporter for a period in which he wrote about the investigation of Sen. Robert Torricelli, the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has disclosed. In an Aug. 20 letter, the office of U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said the government subpoenaed telephone records of John Solomon for incoming and outgoing calls at the reporter's home from May 2 to May 7. White was appointed last spring to oversee the Torricelli investigation. Justice Department spokeswoman Susan Dryden declined to comment on the matter Monday. On May 4, an AP story under Solomon's byline quoted unidentified law enforcement officials as saying Torricelli had been recorded on a wiretap in 1996 discussing fund-raising with relatives of a prominent Chicago crime figure. Law enforcement officials can face criminal penalties for disclosing information obtained under federal wiretaps. The unidentified officials told the AP that the intercepted call received new scrutiny two years later when allegations surfaced of thousands of dollars in illegal straw donations to Torricelli's campaign. According to the AP story, the law enforcement officials said several people have been questioned about the intercept and whether Torricelli or his staff ever encouraged them to disguise donations. "We are outraged by what the Justice Department has done and we will seek any available legal redress," said AP President and CEO Louis D. Boccardi. "Their actions fly in the face of long-standing policy that recognizes what a serious step it is to go after a reporter's phone records. We hope that this secret assault on the press is not an indication of the Bush administration's attitude toward a press free of government interference," Boccardi said. First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams said a Justice Department subpoena of a journalist's telephone records was extremely rare. "I cannot say that every time the government seeks to obtain telephone records of journalists it necessarily violates the First Amendment, but there's no doubt that the decision of the government to go so far as to obtain these telephone records raises constitutional questions of a high order of delicacy," Abrams said. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson approved the subpoena for the reporter's records, according to the letter mailed to Solomon. Attorney General John Ashcroft disqualified himself from the matter. Torricelli campaigned last year for Ashcroft's Democratic opponent in the U.S. Senate race in Missouri. Ashcroft lost to Jean Carnahan, who stepped in after her husband was killed in a plane crash. © Copyright 2001 The Associated P