State Attorney General Jerry Brown has asked Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to investigate the unauthorized secret tapings of journalists by one of his ex-staffers. According to the Chron, O’Malley has agreed to conduct the investigation. Brown had previously said that his former spokesman Scott Gerber would not face criminal charges, because even though secretly taping someone is illegal, reporters should have no expectation of privacy during “on-the-record” interviews. However, Brown’s decision was met with criticism by Republicans and by several newspaper editorial boards, who noted that his office also is investigating right-wing operatives for secretly taping the community group, ACORN.
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