Shot: President Obama’s speech today:

Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law. That is why I have called on Congress to pass a media shield law to guard against government over-reach. I have raised these issues with the Attorney General, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the Attorney General to report back to me by July 12th.

Chaser: NBC News:

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

The disclosure of the attorney general’s role came as President Barack Obama, in a major speech on his counterterrorism policy, said Holder had agreed to review Justice Department guidelines governing investigations that involve journalists.

“I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable,” Obama said. “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.”

Will Attorney General Holder be recusing himself from the review he’ll be doing of practices at DOJ relating to media?

In the fever swamps on the right, some wonder how high up this approval went:

Very important question: did Holder or anyone else at DOJ inform the White House of the Rosen warrant?

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) May 23, 2013

V. important Q for Lisa Monaco, Obama's top WH adviser on terrorism: Did she know about Rosen warrant when she headed leak unit at DOJ?

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) May 23, 2013

We’ve wondered many a time whether there was anything that could warrant Holder’s losing the “full confidence” of President Obama. Up until now, he has defied political expectations and logic as he careened from the center of one major administration scandal to another.

Exit quotation: “This administration, more than any of its predecessors in recent years [they have], gone after journalists.”

Update: Ouch, losing Huffpo: