Tag: Department of Justice

FBI raid on Project Veritas founder’s home sparks questions about press freedom

Politico

The Biden administration’s effort to establish itself as a committed champion of press freedom is facing new doubts because of the Justice Department’s aggressive legal tactics against a conservative provocateur known for his hidden-camera video stings. 

A predawn FBI raid last weekend against Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and similar raids on some of his associates are prompting alarm from some First Amendment advocates, who contend that prosecutors appear to have run roughshod over Justice Department media policies and a federal law protecting journalists.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/13/raid-veritas-okeefe-biden-press-521307

In rare move, Justice Department takes church’s side in 1st Amendment suit

Associated Press

Virus Outbreak Drive-In Church

The Justice Department argued in the filing that the city appeared to be targeting religious conduct by singling churches out as the only essential service (as designated by the state of Mississippi) that may not operate despite following all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state recommendations regarding social distancing.

Source: https://time.com/5820997/justice-department-church-1st-amendment/

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok claims government violated his privacy, free speech rights

ABC News

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok is claiming the government violated his First Amendment rights by releasing his private text messages that contained his political opinion about President Donald Trump.

In a new court filing Monday, Strzok and his attorneys argue that the Justice Department violated his protected free speech by releasing the text messages he exchanged with then-FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-agent-peter-strzok-claims-government-violated-privacy/story?id=68001195

Report reveals new details about DOJ’s seizing of AP phone records

Columbia Journalism Review

“With its latest leak indictment last week, the Department of Justice under Donald Trump is now on pace to break the previous record for prosecutions of journalists’ sources, just two and a half years into its administration.”

Source: https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/doj-ap-phone-records.php

Trump wants Jeff Sessions to investigate the anonymous New York Times op-ed

Vox

“President Donald Trump is reportedly interested in using the Department of Justice to find the identity of the anonymous person who wrote an explosive New York Times opinion piece alleging to be “Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.””

Source: https://www.vox.com/2018/9/7/17832080/jeff-sessions-nyt-op-ed-trump-investigate