The complete record
38 incidents matching your filters.
June 2026
01March 2026
01January 2026
01April 2025
01March 2024
01February 2024
01March 2023
01May 2022
01November 2021
04Federal investigation and raids involving journalist James O'Keefe
Federal agents conducted searches connected to journalist James O'Keefe and Project Veritas during an investigation involving a diary reportedly connected to President Biden's daughter. Homes and devices associated with O'Keefe and others tied to the organization were searched as part of the inquiry. Civil liberties and press freedom advocates debated whether the actions represented legitimate investigative procedures or excessive government intrusion into journalistic activity and source gathering.
FBI raids Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe and associates in Ashley Biden diary investigation
On November 3 and 6, 2021, the FBI executed search warrants at the homes of Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe and two associates as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of Ashley Biden's diary. A grand jury subpoena was served on Project Veritas's counsel on November 4, 2021. A special master was appointed in December 2021 to review seized materials for journalistic and attorney-client privilege. The DOJ closed the investigation without charges on February 5, 2025.
FBI Raids Homes of Project Veritas Journalists Over Ashley Biden Diary
In November 2021, FBI agents raided the homes of Project Veritas journalists and founder James O'Keefe as part of a criminal investigation into how the organization obtained Ashley Biden's diary, seizing phones and other materials. Press freedom groups condemned the raids as an unconstitutional intrusion on protected newsgathering.
FBI seizes phone of journalist Cassandra Fairbanks in Project Veritas-linked probe
FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Maryland home of Gateway Pundit journalist Cassandra Fairbanks in November 2021 and seized her phone in connection with the federal investigation into who obtained Ashley Biden's diary. No charges were filed against Fairbanks.
July 2021
01June 2021
01May 2021
02Trump-era DOJ secretly seized phone and email records of CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr under 10-month gag order
In July 2020, the Trump-era U.S. Department of Justice secretly obtained phone toll records and email metadata for CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr covering June 1 – July 31, 2017. A § 2705(b) gag order barred CNN's general counsel from informing the newsroom for approximately 10 months. CNN challenged the orders in sealed proceedings in the Eastern District of Virginia. The gag lifted May 13, 2021; CNN disclosed the seizure publicly on May 20, 2021.
Trump-era DOJ secretly seized phone records of three Washington Post reporters; disclosed May 2021
The Trump-era U.S. Department of Justice in 2020 obtained, via secret grand jury subpoena, the phone toll records of Washington Post national security reporters Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and Adam Entous for the period April 15 – July 31, 2017. The DOJ also obtained a § 2703(d) court order for email metadata but stated it did not actually retrieve those email records. The Post was notified May 3, 2021 and publicly disclosed the seizure May 7, 2021.
December 2020
01January 2020
02Filmmaker Rod Webber arrested multiple times while filming presidential campaigns
Documentary filmmaker Rod Webber was arrested at campaign events in New Hampshire and Iowa in 2019-2020 while attempting to film and question candidates. Charges were repeatedly dismissed, and a federal court allowed his First Amendment retaliation claims to proceed.
Trump DOJ Secretly Seizes Phone Records of Four New York Times Reporters
The Trump Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of four New York Times national security reporters — Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eric Lichtblau, and Michael Schmidt — as part of a leak investigation, the newspaper disclosed in June 2021 when the Biden DOJ notified the reporters.
November 2019
01June 2018
01December 2017
01June 2017
01September 2016
01January 2015
02DOJ revises 28 C.F.R. § 50.10 media guidelines in response to AP and Rosen scandals
Between July 2013 and January 2015, in response to public outcry over the AP phone records seizure and the James Rosen search warrant, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a comprehensive revision of 28 C.F.R. § 50.10. The revised guidelines prohibited labeling journalists as criminal co-conspirators solely to circumvent the Privacy Protection Act, required senior DOJ approval for media subpoenas and warrants, and mandated advance notice to news organizations except in narrow exceptions.
Obama DOJ pursues seven-year subpoena fight to compel NYT reporter James Risen to testify against CIA source
Beginning in April 2010, the Obama Department of Justice issued grand jury and trial subpoenas to New York Times reporter James Risen seeking to compel his testimony in the prosecution of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling for the leak of details about a CIA operation targeting Iran's nuclear program. Risen refused throughout. The Fourth Circuit ruled against him in 2013; the Supreme Court denied certiorari in 2014. AG Eric Holder ultimately announced in January 2015 that the DOJ would not call Risen to testify.
March 2014
01May 2013
02Obama DOJ obtains search warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen's email by labeling him a criminal 'co-conspirator'
On May 28, 2010, the FBI obtained a federal search warrant for the personal Gmail account of Fox News reporter James Rosen by asserting probable cause in a sworn affidavit that Rosen himself had violated the Espionage Act as a 'co-conspirator' for soliciting a leak from State Department contractor Stephen Jin-Woo Kim. The warrant was executed secretly; it became public in May 2013. AG Eric Holder personally approved the warrant.
Obama DOJ secretly seizes two months of phone records from 20 Associated Press reporters and editors
In April–May 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice secretly subpoenaed two months of telephone records from at least 20 Associated Press reporters and editors across five AP offices. The seizure was disclosed publicly on May 13, 2013, when AP CEO Gary Pruitt called it a 'massive and unprecedented intrusion' into newsgathering. The investigation concerned an AP story revealing a CIA operation in Yemen.
February 2008
01September 2006
01August 2006
02Freelance journalist Josh Wolf jailed 226 days for refusing to turn over G8 protest video to federal grand jury
On August 1, 2006, U.S. District Judge William Alsup jailed San Francisco freelance video journalist Josh Wolf for contempt after he refused to turn over unaired video footage of a 2005 G8-summit protest to a federal grand jury investigating injury to a police officer and damage to a federally funded police vehicle. Wolf was released April 3, 2007 after 226 days — the longest U.S. journalist contempt incarceration on record at the time — when he agreed to post his footage publicly and the government withdrew its demand for source-identification testimony.
Josh Wolf Jailed 226 Days for Refusing to Hand Over Protest Video
San Francisco freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf spent 226 days in federal prison — the longest any U.S. journalist had been jailed for protecting source material — after refusing a grand jury subpoena for unedited video footage he had shot of a 2005 G8 protest where a police car was damaged.
July 2005
02New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed 85 days for refusing to testify in CIA leak investigation
On July 6, 2005, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for contempt after she refused to identify her source to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury investigating the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Miller was released after 85 days on September 29, 2005, after her source I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby provided a personal waiver. Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper also faced contempt; he testified after his source Karl Rove released him.
Judith Miller Jailed 85 Days for Refusing to Identify Plame Source
New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for 85 days in 2005 after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. Miller had not even written about Plame, but the Bush-era DOJ subpoenaed her anyway, making her incarceration one of the most prominent reporter-contempt cases in U.S. history.