WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers accused theObama administration on Wednesday of trampling on free speechrights and evading questions about the Justice Department'ssecret seizure of Associated Press telephone records. 

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, testifying before a Houseof Representatives panel, provided limited responses on theissue, noting he had been recused from the probe into agovernment leak that led to the records seizure. 

Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee became frustratedthat Holder could not answer why the subpoena to obtain therecords was so broad and why the Justice Department did notfirst try to negotiate with AP to obtain information. 

The seizure of phone records last year became public onMonday when the AP complained about it.  Critics have called it agross intrusion into freedom of the press and questioned theObama administration's national security justification for sucha broad sweep. 

Representative Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, said itwas clear to her that the Justice Department impaired the FirstAmendment right to free speech. 

"Reporters who might previously have believed that aconfidential source will speak to them will no longer have thatlevel of confidence," Lofgren said. 

Apparently trying to counter the criticism, the White Housesought on Wednesday to show its commitment to a robust media,saying it wants to revive legislation that would givejournalists legal protection when guarding their sources. 

The AP said it was informed last Friday that the JusticeDepartment had gathered records for more than 20 phone linesassigned to the news agency and its reporters, covering Apriland May of last year. 

The subpoena was part of an investigation into whether anunauthorized leak led to an AP report in May 2012 about anoperation conducted by the CIA and allied intelligence agenciesthat stopped a Yemen-based al Qaeda plot to bomb a U.S.-boundairplane. 

The AP issue emerged as President Barack Obama faces abarrage of criticism over his administration's handling of otherissues - notably the Internal Revenue Service's targeting ofconservative groups for extra scrutiny. 

ACCOUNTABILITY

Holder said on Tuesday that he recused himself from the APmatter to avoid a potential conflict of interest because he hadbeen interviewed by the FBI as part of the same leakinvestigation. 

Responding to lawmakers' questions on Wednesday, Holder saidhe did not have specific knowledge about how the subpoena wasformulated, and added that it was Deputy Attorney General JimCole who authorized the document. 

Lawmakers asked Holder to ensure that Cole would submit totheir questions about the subpoena.  The attorney generalcautioned that Cole might be limited because he is the leadprosecutor on the open investigation into the leak, but he saidhe would pass along the request. 

Holder did seek to address the panel's complaints in someform, saying that after the investigation wraps up, he would study the Justice Department's actions in the probe. 

"Given the attention that it has generated, some kind ofafter-action analysis would be appropriate, and I will pledge tothis committee, to the American people, that I will engage insuch an analysis," Holder said. 

PUSH FOR MEDIA SHIELD LAW

In a move apparently designed to mollify critics, WhiteHouse spokesman Jay Carney said the administration is seeking torevive a 2009 media shield bill that had been sponsored byDemocratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York. 

Carney declined to comment on the timing of the WhiteHouse's renewed interest in the bill. 

"The White House has been in contact with Senator Schumerand we are glad to see that that legislation will bereintroduced because he believes strongly that we need toprovide the protections to the media that this legislation woulddo," he said. 

The bill, known as the Free Flow of Information Act, wouldlikely not have prevented the AP phone records seizure. 

It would give federal protection to reporters who decline torelease information about their sources because of a promise ofconfidentiality but would also allow national security, lawenforcement, and fair trial needs to outweigh journalists'rights to keep their sources confidential, Schumer's officesaid. 

"This kind of law would balance national security needsagainst the public's right to the free flow of information,"Schumer said in a statement on Wednesday. " At minimum, our billwould have ensured a fairer, more deliberate process in thiscase." 

Reuters was one of nearly 50 news organizations that signeda letter to Holder on Tuesday complaining about the AP phonerecord seizures.