James Rosen has joined conservative cable outlet, Newsmax, as chief White House correspondent.
Rosen has been with Sinclair Broadcasting most recently and before that was chief Washington correspondent at Fox News until his exit in 2017 following an NPR story about allegations of sexual misconduct.
In 2014, the Justice Department investigated Rosen as a co-conspirator in the leak of classified info because he sought that information from a source. The Justice Department seized some of Rosen's e-mails and phone records as it did of AP journalists in another case, but in the AP case, attorney general Eric Holder suggested Justice should only be pursuing leakers as law-breakers, not the journalists who secured the info.
At the time, the Committee to Protect Journalists said that the characterization of Rosen as an "abettor and/or co-conspirator" appeared to be just such a targeting of journalists.
Newsmax cited the Obama-era investigation and resulting procedural reforms at State and Justice.
“James Rosen is not only a reporter’s reporter, but also a great thinker and author who can share complex issues on a TV screen and explain them in clear and understandable ways,” said Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy.
Rosen arrives following Newsmax's removal of White House correspondent Emerald Robinson from the air after she tweeted a bonkers anti-vaccine theory about them containing bioluminescent markers that can allow the vaccinated to be tracked by the government, after which she was removed from Twitter. Her contract will also reported not be renewed when it comes up in January. ■
