Jake Tapper: 'I Do Not Expect' Glenn Greenwald To Be Prosecuted (VIDEO)

CNN's Jake Tapper said Tuesday that he does not expect the United States government to prosecute Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the story of the NSA's secret surveillance of Americans last week.

Greenwald published a bombshell story in the Guardian last week, using top-secret information leaked to him by Edward Snowden. The story came on the heels of the revelation that the DOJ named Fox News reporter James Rosen a "co-conspirator" for releasing classified information in another leaks case. Greenwald's piece prompted speculation about whether the Obama administration would investigate the journalist.

Speaking on Tuesday's "Starting Point," Tapper cited Rosen and other journalists, and argued that the United States has "not prosecuted any of these journalists and I do not expect they would do the same for Glenn Greenwald or anyone else because it really a just creates such a slippery slope."

He continued, "Do you publish-- do you prosecute every journalist who publishes any sort of national security story? It creates too many problems. I just can't anticipate that happening, especially not for Glenn Greenwald who lives in Brazil and writes for a British newspaper."

Greenwald said on Sunday that he had not been contacted by the FBI or law enforcement yet. He also praised leakers, and slammed calls for the prosecution of his sources. Greenwald also reacted with disbelief on Tuesday when Rep. Peter King called for action against reporters "for disclosing something that would so severely compromise national security."

Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the DOJ will not prosecute reporters for doing their jobs. The department's job, he said, is to "identify and prosecute government officials who jeopardize national security by violating their oaths, not to target members of the press or discourage them from carrying out their vital work."

Holder has been under fire for the DOJ's secret monitoring of the Associated Press' phone records, as well as signing off on a search warrant of Rosen's personal emails. The warrant named Rosen a "co-conspirator" in a national security leaks case — something that prompted critics to say that the work of journalism is "being criminalized."