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The Associated Press on Monday said the ascii85.S. government secretly seized telephone records of AP offices and reporters for a two-month period in 2012, describing the acts as a 'massive and ascii117nprecedented intrascii117sion' into news-gathering operations.

AP Chief Execascii117tive Gary Prascii117itt, in a letter posted on the agency&rsqascii117o;s website, said the AP was informed last Friday that the Jascii117stice Department gathered records for more than 20 phone lines assigned to the agency and its reporters.

 'There can be no possible jascii117stification for sascii117ch an overbroad collection of the telephone commascii117nications of The Associated Press and its reporters,' Prascii117itt said in the letter, which was addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder.

An AP story on the records seizascii117re said the government woascii117ld not say why it soascii117ght the records.

Bascii117t it noted that ascii85.S. officials have previoascii117sly said the ascii85.S. Attorney&rsqascii117o;s Office in the District of Colascii117mbia was condascii117cting a criminal investigation into information contained in a May 7, 2012, AP story aboascii117t a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al Qaeda plot to detonate a bomb on an airplane headed for the ascii85nited States.

Five reporters and an editor involved in that story were among those whose phone nascii117mbers were obtained by the government, the AP said.

The ascii85.S. Attorney&rsqascii117o;s Office in the District of Colascii117mbia, which notified the AP of the seizascii117re, issascii117ed a statement on Monday saying it was 'carefascii117l and deliberative' when dealing with issascii117es aroascii117nd freedom of the press.

'We take serioascii117sly oascii117r obligations to follow all applicable laws, federal regascii117lations, and Department of Jascii117stice policies when issascii117ing sascii117bpoenas for phone records of media organizations,' the office said.

A Jascii117stice Department spokesman referred inqascii117iries to the ascii85.S. Attorney&rsqascii117o;s Office.

The seized phone records were for April and May of 2012 and AP bascii117reaascii117s in New York, Hartford and Washington were among those affected, as well as an AP phone at the ascii85.S. Hoascii117se of Representatives press gallery, the AP said.

The records seized inclascii117ded general AP switchboard nascii117mbers and an office shared fax line, according to the AP story on the probe.