Attorney regulators must push back on lawless prosecutors
Dear Friend of Press Freedom,
The deportation case against Rümeysa Öztürk for co-writing an op-ed the government didn’t like was finally dismissed this week, although the administration can still challenge the ruling. But others, like Ya’akub Vijandre, remain locked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for exercising their press freedom rights. Read on for more on the week in press freedom.
Attorney regulators must push back on lawless prosecutors
Last Friday, we filed an attorney disciplinary complaint against Gordon Kromberg, the federal prosecutor who reviewed and signed the search warrant application targeting Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. The complaint explained that Kromberg violated his duty to disclose adverse authority when his application neglected to mention a federal law that should have prohibited the raid of Natanson’s home. As we explained in a statement, his omission “now threatens to expose Natanson’s sources and cripple her ability to report, while also sending a warning shot to journalists and whistleblowers nationwide.”
Days later, the Virginia State Bar punted on the complaint, contending that it is up to the judge to whom Kromberg submitted the application to decide if the attorney misrepresented the law. That makes no sense — if attorney honesty is solely for judges to decide, then why do the ethics rules (which are enforced by regulators, not judges) include a duty of candor? As we told The New York Times: “This is the latest example of attorney disciplinary offices finding any excuse to not confront the rampant misconduct by prosecutors and other lawyers inside the Trump administration. Disciplinary offices need to rise to the moment and stop protecting the people they’re supposed to regulate.”
Öztürk deportation case among America’s most blatant press freedom violations
We’re thrilled that Öztürk’s removal case is (hopefully) over but we remain shocked and disgusted that it ever happened. We said in a statement that the case is “arguably the most blatant press freedom violation of this century, and maybe the last century as well. The administration did not even bother to present a pretext for its actions — it arrested her, jailed her in horrific conditions, and sought to expel her solely because she expressed views shared by millions of Americans about one of the most important issues of our time.”
The administration goes after immigrants like Öztürk (who has a student visa) because they’re the easiest targets, not because they have any greater respect for the constitutional rights of citizens. They’d throw out all of us who dissent from their agenda or expose their lies if they could, regardless of citizenship status.
Could the next archivist be even worse?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was never qualified to serve as acting archivist of the United States, even if it were his only job. In normal times, we’d cheer the end of his year-long stint at the National Archives and Records Administration. But in normal times that stint would’ve never happened. And there is a real concern that his successor might not be any better.
Rubio has reportedly picked Jim Byron, who has been functioning as the agency’s day-to-day head, to take over from him. Byron’s track record is troubling, to say the least. Our Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy, Lauren Harper, has more in her secrecy newsletter, The Classifieds.
Digital security for Valentine’s Day
Like love itself, digital security is all about trust, confidentiality, and compatibility, so our digital security team worked with our friends at Calyx Institute on this set of valentines.
Please feel free to choose your favorites, download them, print them if you like, and send them along to anyone you care for, along with our best regards.
What we're reading
Paramount expands offer for Warner Bros amid hostile takeover bid
“WBD shareholders should push back against any transaction that would result in CNN being controlled by people who have already shown willingness to sell out journalism and journalists to benefit their other interests,” Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said.
Trump’s campaign against ‘left-wing’ media finds a new target: Apple News
To summarize Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson’s ridiculous letter: “We’re not the speech police, but we reserve the right to make up nonexistent misrepresentations as a pretext to police speech.”
Landmark settlement announced in lawsuit challenging unlawful questioning of journalists at the border
An important win for press freedom from the ACLU: A landmark settlement for photojournalists who had their First Amendment rights violated at the U.S.-Mexico border by ICE and Customs and Border Patrol.
LAPD replaces ‘less-lethal’ gun ‘known to maim people’ with another ‘less-lethal’ gun capable of doing the exact same thing
“Whatever euphemistic term people use for these weapons, all of them are known to maim people for life,” said FPF’s deputy director of advocacy, Adam Rose. “They’re only appropriate when the only alternative is lethal force.”
ICE is expanding across the US at breakneck speed. Here’s where it’s going next
In the midst of its lies about the dangers of filming law enforcement operations, ICE now claims that revealing its new office locations is a “national security” concern. It’s not.