Armed agents seize records of reporter, Washington Times prepares legal action

The Washington Times ^ | October 25, 2013 | Guy Taylor

[jazusamo]

Maryland state police and federal agents used a search warrant in an unrelated criminal investigation to seize the private reporting files of an award-winning former investigative journalist for The Washington Times who had exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Air Marshal Service.

Reporter Audrey Hudson said the investigators, who included an agent for Homeland’s Coast Guard service, took her private notes and government documents that she had obtained under the Freedom of Information Act during a predawn raid of her family home on Aug. 6.

The documents, some which chronicled her sources and her work at the Times about problems inside the Homeland Security Department, were seized under a warrant to search for unregistered firearms and a “potato gun” suspected of belonging to her husband, Paul Flanagan, a Coast Guard employee. Mr. Flanagan has not been charged with any wrongdoing since the raid.

The warrant, obtained by the Times, offered no specific permission to seize reporting notes or files.

The Washington Times said Friday it is preparing legal action to fight what it called an unwarranted intrusion on the First Amendment.

“While we appreciate law enforcement’s right to investigate legitimate concerns, there is no reason for agents to use an unrelated gun case to seize the First Amendment protected materials of a reporter,” Times Editor John Solomon said. “This violates the very premise of a free press, and it raises additional concerns when one of the seizing agencies was a frequent target of the reporter’s work.

“Homeland’s conduct in seizing privileged reporters notes and Freedom of Information Act documents raises serious Fourth Amendment issues, and our lawyers are preparing an appropriate legal response,” he said.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

I finally understand that you just aren’t all that bright...Look up freedom of the press and see if you can grasp its meaning.

Obama say's he's good at killing people. Why don't you go look that up.

See all the dead reporters and sources on the Obama death pool (knowthelies.com) and then see if you can grasp its meaning.

[sakic]

Now you’re going full blown crazy.

Obama being an inept creep has nothing to do with freedom of the press in America vs. Russia.

It is not that you are not bright. You are batsh*t crazy.

You are a poster child for the other team.

I should just leave you alone but sadly it is difficult to not prod you because of your nutty responses. They may show you in a poor light but it is oddly entertaining to me.

I must resist taunting the mentally handicapped, but your inability to participate in reasonable and logical discussion is outright spectacular.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Of course I realize the full meaning of a free press. We just have seen very little of it as of late.

Obama being an inept creep

Inept creep? How about an overbearing tyrant?...including tyranny leveled at the press. Any of the prestitues who cross him do so at their own peril.

Do you not read any of these articles and threads?

...full blown crazy...you are not bright. You are batsh*t crazy...You are a poster child for the other team...your nutty responses...I must resist taunting the mentally handicapped, but your inability to participate in reasonable and logical discussion is outright spectacular.

Nice condescending ad hominem spew, I give you example after example of a complicit or manhandled media, and all you can do is call names...typical New Yawka elitist.

[sakic]

You are the who has been the elitist in our exchanges.

How is your wife?

[ROCKLOBSTER]

You are the who has been the elitist in our exchanges.

Yeah, I don't think so, I'm not the one defending the status quo.

So, how about those armed agents seizing the records of that reporter...huh?

How is your wife?

She's just fine, she also hates the RATagandist cheerleaders.