And the award for Understatement of the Year, goes to…

Via NBC:

“I’m a little concerned that things have gotten a little out of whack … I think we can do a better job than we have. We can reform those regulations, reform those guidelines to better reflect that balance,” he said.

“A little concerned”? I’m a little concerned when the office printer is “out of whack.” If the executive department responsible for administering nationwide justice of which I was in charge was found to be abusing the law to specifically thwart journalists, I would be appalled.

And no, just in case you were wondering — he does not have any intention of resigning any time soon.

When it comes to his future tenure Holder said, “There’s some things that I want to do, some things I want to get done” before relinquishing the post he has held since February of 2009. “I’ve discussed that with the president. And once I have finished that, I’ll sit down with him and we’ll determine when it’s time to make a transition to a new attorney general.”

Asked, directly, if he would step down, he responded, “No, I have no intention of doing so now.”

As for using the term “co-conspirator” in describing Rosen’s role in a leak investigation, Holder explained that the phrasing was necessary in order to get a search warrant.

“I don’t like that, because it means that me as a government official, and who has great respect for the press, is in essence saying that the reporter who is doing his or her job, and doing that very important job, is somehow branded a criminal,” he said. “And I’m just not comfortable with that. And we’re going to change it.”

Heck, why should he? Being held in contempt of Congress didn’t do anything to slow him down, and Holder’s been such an effective heat shield for the president in the past that I’m sure he’s just fine with his political wingman sticking around for awhile yet.

And I suppose even feigning outrage over his department’s multiple flagrant abuses would be too much of an admission that they were doing something really wrong. Why acknowledge the degree of the wrongdoing of it all too vociferously, when — for all of the promises of “respect for the press” and “improving regulations,” blah blah blah — their basic M.O. isn’t really going to change:

In a meeting with top lawyers from the intelligence community, Attorney General Eric Holder said that despite the firestorm over the seizure of phone records and emails from reporters he does not want the Obama administration’s effort to punish media leakers to end.

A senior intelligence official who was in the room told Fox News that Holder’s message to the intelligence community was a simple one. “He assured us that he wanted to continue aggressively prosecuting leaks,” said the official who spoke to Fox News on the condition of anonymity. …

Holder told the assembled attorneys he would rather see a “narrower, more tailored approach,” said the intelligence official. “I left with the impression that the AG thought the AP phone record seizure was a bit too broad.”

Holder’s call to remain “aggressive” underscores the administration’s unprecedented focus on prosecuting media leaks.