The Trump administration claimed that the leak of this memo was so dangerous that it necessitated opening criminal investigations and creating new, stricter rules around leaks to the media. We wanted to see if that was true — and it wasn’t.
Freedom of the Press
FOIA win by FPF undermines new DOJ policy on journalists and sources
The FOIA release also undercuts rationale for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport a group of Venezuelans to El Salvador.
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Democrats Had a Shot at Protecting Journalists From Trump. They Blew It.
The Intercept
Democrats Had a Shot at Protecting Journalists From Trump. They Blew It.
Senate Democrats had a legislative path to shield journalists and their sources from surveillance and subpoenas. They didn’t act.
The US used to be the gold standard for press freedom. Not any more
the Guardian
The US used to be the gold standard for press freedom. Not any more | Kai Falkenberg
The Trump administration is creating a chilling effect on independent reporting and public dissent
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Justice Department on April 25 to reverse Biden-era policies that protect journalists from having their records seized or being forced to testify amid leak investigations:
U.S. Press Freedom Tracker
Pam Bondi targets journalists, leakers as U.S. attorney general
Shortly after President Donald Trump’s second term began, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi joined Trump in taking steps to punish …
If the government can arrest students for writing op-eds and hide records about it, we don't have a free press. We're demanding transparency on the abduction of Rümeysa Öztürk and why the administration ignored warnings of its unconstitutionality.
Freedom of the Press
Administration must release memos about abduction of op-ed writer
Public records requests seek transparency on internal discussions of illegal deportation
This is the authoritarian ratchet. If Trump can, in defiance of the Supreme Court, arbitrarily "disappear" non-citizens in El Salvador, anyone else could be next — including journalists who report on his administration.
NBC News
El Salvador's president says he won't return mistakenly deported man to U.S.
The Trump administration now claims Kilmar Abrego Garcia wasn’t deported by mistake, as the Justice Department said, but was “the right person ...
Entry: Denied The “intolerable risk to press freedom” posed by device searches at the border. Check out this CJR newsletter to better understand the risks behind and how to prepare for digital border searches. https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/entry-denied-us-border-customs-device-unlock-search-journalists-detain.php?mc_cid=6cc1f29677&mc_eid=d57683135d
Read about how legal risks created by the Biden administration's ill-advised journalist prosecutions might be why Jeffrey Goldberg would voluntarily exit a Signal chat with Trump officials that could've generated countless important stories.
Slate Magazine
Why Jeffrey Goldberg Was Taking a Big Risk in Breaking the “Signalgate” Story
The Trump administration has been at war with journalists—and a Biden-era DOJ prosecution has opened up a path for them to go after Jeffrey Goldb...
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more journalists than the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Yugoslavia Wars, and Afghanistan War, combined, according to Brown University’s Watson Institute.
Costs of War | Brown University
Papers
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If the US doesn't consider military operations classified, great! FOIA offices should have an easy time releasing them to the public now. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/mike-waltz-is-losing-support-inside-the-white-house-2b17459c?mod=politics_lead_pos3