As part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the conservative blog Legal Insurrection, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington, D.C., released on Thursday a January 2013 affidavit requesting an arrest warrant for former Meet the Press host David Gregory.
An MPD investigator wrote in the affidavit that "there is probable cause that the offense of possessing a ‘high-capacity’ magazine was committed in the District of Columbia. Therefore your Affiant requests the issuance of an arrest warrant for Gregory, David Michael."
In a December 2012 edition of Meet the Press, Gregory displayed a high-capacity magazine during an interview with the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre.
Possession of high-capacity magazines is illegal in D.C., which has some of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation. After the segment, many conservative groups began questioning why the MPD did not charge Gregory with any crime.
Emails obtained by Legal Insurrection showed that police warned NBC in advance that it was against the law to display the magazine. However, the D.C. attorney general declined to prosecute Gregory.
"[The office of the attorney general] has determined to exercise its prosecutorial discretion to decline to bring criminal charges against Mr. Gregory, who has no criminal record, or any other NBC employee based on the events associated with the December 23, 2012 broadcast," D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan said at the time.
"This affidavit for an arrest warrant of David Gregory shows that NBC News thinks it is above the law. Imagine what NBC News would make of a corporation whose employees violated the law despite being warned by the police! If David Gregory were not a major media personality and not then employed by NBC, he would have almost certainly been arrested and prosecuted for possessing the illegal high magazine clip," said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton. "It is no wonder the District government covered up its special favor for NBC News and David Gregory for two years. Liberals in the District seem to think that they should be immune from the absurd and constitutionally-suspect gun laws they like and want enforced."
In May 2013 Legal Insurrection, represented by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, filed a FOIA lawsuit for the affidavit, which a judge ordered the MPD to release in December 2014.
See the affidavit below:
