I will be the first to admit I am not perfect and I make mistakes.

I will be the first to admit I am not perfect and I make mistakes.

I respect very much the role of the media in our society; I think they can be very, very helpful. They serve as a very useful check, sort of a watchdog over the actions of the government, and I respect that.

There are, for example, exemptions in FOIA in which the government can withhold certain kinds of information, and the courts have recognized that there is certain documentation that do deserve protection, that certain privileges do apply and do deserve protection.

At the end of the day, you realize that this is important stuff, but it isn't as important as how my kids feel about me. That's how I'm going to measure my success - not how I did as counsel to the president or as attorney general. How did I do as a dad?

But the Congress has made the determination that certain kinds of information can be protected even though the American people may want to have access to information.

I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days.