Posted on 10/25/2013 3:53:11 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Thanks CW, a very good piece with more info.
Yes they should and this raid was set up specifically to get those notes, IMO.
He had purchased a potato gun but threw it away because it was junk. The weapons found were all legal and registered to Audrey Hudson.
The link at post #56 is to a Daily Caller article that gives more info, it’s a good read.
Hopefully Hudson with the help of the WT can nail these turkeys to the wall on this fiasco.
Perhaps if the alleged “free press” actually got off its butt and did some real investigating/reporting on the Kenyan’s whole operation there might be enough fear among the brown shirts to avoid trying this cheap krap. And this Flanagan genius actually works for the Coasties? Wouldn’t they just go ask him what he’s got? Last time I checked a potato gun was a car tailpipe. Did the guy take a shot at his boss with a spud? He should have nibbled a gun out of a cookie and yelled “bang.” There’s still too big a BS factor in this story to make much out of it. Somebody want to ask Judge Quickdraw if his warrant was properly served?
LOL! Great idea!
Maybe they’ll find out how the Jarrett family is connected (through Valerie’s sister) with the firm that got the no-bid contract to build the Bambicare website...not to mention how Michelle is connected through her best friend when she was at Princeton, a fellow Black Law Students Association member, who is the president of the firm...
Leave the “dummy” notes at home and take the real ones with you...always.
Hah! A confession! You’re busted. I’ll be over to collect the evidence which I will process in my deep fryer. Possession of such a weapon cache will get you time in the kitchen.
Barack Obama:
“They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.”
There are so many things wrong with that statement, i dunno where to start
[ People are upset over the agents seizing the documents and they should be.
But they should also be upset that government agents raid a house at 4:30 am in search of guns.
Whatever happened to the 2nd Amendment?!
“The agents, who had arrived a 4:30 a.m. in full body armor, collected several small arms during the raid, although no charges have been filed against Mr. Flanagan, 54, during the nearly three months since.” ]
1st the 1st then the 2nd???
Did she ever get her legal guns back?
“Flanagan was evasive but stated he did receive a ‘potato gun’ but it was defective and it was thrown away.” The term “potato gun” is “slang used during the illegal importation of silencers,” according to the warrant. Mrs. Hudson says the “potato gun” claim is outrageous. She says that her husband did in fact purchase a “potato launcher” from an online company based in Sweden five years ago as a novelty item, but it was discarded within as few weeks because it did not work.They will make up anything to come after you. They are beyond the law. BTW, are potato guns (not silencers...) even illegal and if so, WHYYYYYYY???????
btw, the ultimate irony of this action and the phony silencer (reverse “slang for potato gun”) is that the whole action seems to be geared to “silence” the press.
If Obama looses control of his press, then he is overdone toast, and he and his handlers know it.
I doubt they’re illegal, if so 0bama blew it at the WH. Check post 79 & 80. LOL!
You’re right about 0bummer and thugs losing the support of the enemedia, if they do they know it’s all over for them.
“How is this a 1st amendment issue? It’s a violation of the 4th amendment!”
This is the Obama administration. They can violate oodles of amendments at one time.
The raid came about because of the critical news stories written by Audrey Hudson.
Long past time to dissolve many government agencies! This government has become too intrusive and too damned big.
Thanks for the link. Lots of info in that article. One line (above italicized) is their hook into Hudson's life; the fact that her husband is in the Coast Guard and that the Coast Guard investigators launched the attack on her home.
You don't pull up years old gun issues in order to conduct a raid now unless you are afraid that Hudson has something new on you now. She, of course, can't say what that something is, but she was onto something new and they were afraid of it.
The pretext, though, is absolutely frightening. Any discussion of guns and any registration of guns gives the excuse to raid a home, take anything, and then apologize for the misguided gun raid.
It doesn't look all that lonely over here-ping.
You summed it up perfectly.
It sounds like she had a fairly large number of resources, she's afraid to contact them to warn them and rightfully so.
This kind of thing is right out of the KGB handbook but this is supposed to be America with a Constitution to protect our citizens.
Seems those protections have really slipped with the election and reelection of "The Won."
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.
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