PRESS SEARCH BACKLASH: Media advocates are pushing back after the FBI conducted a search on the home of a Washington Post reporter, raising significant concerns about press freedoms.
A warrant for the search indicated the investigation is focused on a government system administrator in Maryland with “top secret security clearance” who’s been accused of “accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports” found in his lunchbox and basement, the Post reported.
The search was conducted at the home of journalist Hannah Natanson, who has covered the cuts the Trump administration has made to the federal workforce and its push to reduce government spending.
The Post reported that Natanson was home at the time, and the FBI seized two laptops, a cellphone and a Garmin watch.
Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged Natanson was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information” from the contractor. She said the leaker is in jail and the administration won’t tolerate leaks of classified information that threaten national security.
Matt Murray, the Post’s executive editor, called the search an “extraordinary action” in an email to the outlet’s newsroom. He said the incident is “deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work.”
The outlet reported that Natanson was told she’s not the focus of the investigation.
Still, federal officers conducting a search of a U.S. journalist’s home is exceedingly rare, even when classified information or national security is involved.
Journalists consider protecting their sources when reporting on high-level security matters to be vitally important, and the Justice Department has in the past not pursued charges against journalists for obtaining classified material. But the Trump administration has sought to access journalists’ records, with Bondi signing a memo in April permitting the seizure of their records in leak investigations.
“Leak investigations are not new. But searching a reporter’s residence crosses a line that has long been avoided precisely because of the chilling effect it can have on lawful newsgathering and source relationships,”the National Press Club said in a post on the social platform X.
The Society of Professional Journalists said in a statement it condemns the search as “an extraordinary and dangerous escalation” in the federal government’s treatment of journalists.
“This is not just about one reporter, one newsroom, or one investigation. This is about whether journalists can promise confidentiality to sources without fear that federal agents will show up at their door. It is about whether investigative reporting can survive in an environment where lawful newsgathering is treated as suspect,” the statement reads.
“A democracy does not grow stronger by intimidating the press. It grows weaker,” it concluded.
▪ New York Magazine: FBI search alarms journalists.
MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING: A new round of protests broke out in Minneapolis after a federal agent shot a man in the leg during a traffic stop Wednesday evening.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said federal officials were carrying out a targeted stop on a Venezuelan migrant in the country illegally when he fled the scene, first in his vehicle and then on foot. She said an officer caught up with the man, who started resisting and "violently" assaulting them.
McLaughlin said two other people joined in during the brawl between the officer and the man, attacking the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.
"Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life. The initial subject was hit in the leg," she said.
The officer and the man were taken to the hospital, while the other two were taken into custody.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) said much is unknown about the incident but reiterated that he believes the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the city is "creating chaos."
At least 200 protesters gathered at the scene, with a group calling for the agents to be arrested, The New York Times reported. That resulted in a tense standoff that lasted hours.
Tensions are boiling in the city following last week's fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer, which sparked renewed criticism of the administration's immigration policies.
DEMS LAUNCH NOEM PROBE: Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee say they've launched an investigation into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The investigation comes as Noem has faced significant criticism for her handling of the Minneapolis shooting last week and its aftermath. Democrats say Noem has encouraged federal agents to act with impunity and stress the need for accountability.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the top Democrat on the committee, said nothing is off the table for results of the probe, including impeachment.
“This shooting did not happen in a vacuum. It is a tragic result of Noem’s dangerous reign as Secretary,” Thompson said.
VISA PAUSE: The State Department is pausing the processing of immigrant visas from 75 countries to screen out immigrants it argues will heavily rely on welfare programs.
The department said Wednesday that migrants from these countries “take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” The decision will impact nearly 40 percent of countries around the world but only cover those seeking to immigrate to the U.S. and not those applying for student or tourism visas.
The pause will start Wednesday, Jan. 21, and include countries such as Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Brazil, Russia and Pakistan. It comes as the Trump administration has sought to limit both illegal and legal immigration into the country.
The department has also been revoking existing visas throughout Trump’s second term. It said the pause will remain in effect until the U.S. can ensure new immigrants won’t “extract wealth” from Americans.
▪ Miami Herald: Administration posts contradictory information on safety in Venezuela.
MAIL-IN BALLOT CHALLENGE: The Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit from an Illinois Republican challenging the state’s mail-in ballot law.
The court ruled 7-2 on Wednesday that Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) can sue the state of Illinois over its ability to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The practice has been in the political spotlight in recent years as Trump and his allies have railed against it.
The court didn’t rule on the merits of whether Illinois’s mail-in ballot law is constitutional but on Bost’s standing to sue. Lower courts had found Bost didn’t have standing to sue because the votes being counted after Election Day likely wouldn’t impact his race.
But Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a majority decision that candidates are also impacted by the law in addition to the voters. The ruling may open up candidates across the country and political spectrum suing to challenge election rules in court, The Hill’s Ella Lee reports.
More than a dozen states, and the District of Columbia, allow mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted if they are postmarked or certified before polls closed.
▪ MS NOW: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says ruling undermines democracy.
