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.
Maryland State Police declined comment, except to say that
“evidence and information developed during this investigation is currently
under review by both the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office and the
United State’s Attorney’s Office,” and that a determination has yet to be made
on any charges.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed it seized and reviewed Ms.
Hudson’s documents but insisted it did nothing wrong.
Capt. Tony Hahn, a spokesman at Coast Guard headquarters in
Washington, said the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) was involved in
the case because Mrs. Hudson’s husband, Mr. Flanagan, is a Coast Guard
employee.
During the search of the home, said Capt. Hahn, “the CGIS
agent discovered government documents labeled ‘FOUO’ — For Official Use Only
and ‘LES’ — Law Enforcement Sensitive.”
“The files that contained these documents were cataloged on
the search warrant inventory and taken from the premises,” he said. “The
documents were reviewed with the source agency and determined to be obtained
properly through the Freedom of Information Act.”
Ms. Hudson described a harrowing ordeal the morning her
family home was raided.
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.
Mrs. Hudson, 50, says that while the authorities were
raiding her house, Coast Guard investigator Miguel Bosch — who formerly worked
at the marshal service — began asking questions about whether she was the same
“Audrey Hudson” who had written “the air marshal stories” for The Washington
Times. Mrs. Hudson says she responded that she was.
Read more at: Washingtontimes
No comments:
Post a Comment