On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said the leak that prompted the Justice Department’s seizure of the phone records of almost 100 reporters and editors at the Associated Press needs to be investigated because it “put the American people at risk.”

Appearing on Democracy Now!, Nation Institute fellow Chris Hedges said that Holder presented no evidence of the leak, which is believed to be related to a terrorist plot foiled by the CIA, was dangerous. Moreover, even if the seizure doesn’t frighten journalists, it will have a chilling effect on their sources, he said.

“It is one more assault in a long series of assaults against freedom of information and freedom of the press,” Hedges said.

—Alec Luhn

Read more about whistleblower Bradley Manning and how his persecution has also touched the LGBTQ community.