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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A motion introduced today by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., today to subpoena journalist Seth Harp passed unanimously in the House Oversight Committee. Luna accused Harp of “leaking classified intel about Operation Absolute Resolve, including doxxing a Delta Force commander.”

The motion was apparently in response to Harp’s reporting the name and publicly available online biography of the commander involved in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Politico reports that the subpoena appears to have arisen from an agreement between Luna and California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia to issue a flurry of subpoenas, including some relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Garcia reportedly supported the Harp subpoena.

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said: “Journalists don’t work for the government and can’t ‘leak’ government information — to the contrary, it’s their job to find and publish the news, whether the government wants it made public or not. Identifying government officials by name is not doxxing or harassment, no matter how many times Trump allies say otherwise. Reporters have a constitutional right to publish even classified leaks, as long as they don’t commit any crimes to obtain them, but Harp merely published information that was publicly available about someone at the center of the world’s biggest news story. In 2024, the House unanimously passed the PRESS Act to protect journalists from subpoenas about their newsgathering. The bill died after Trump ordered the Senate to kill it on Truth Social. Apparently, so did the principles of Reps. Luna, Garcia, and their colleagues.”

Chip Gibbons, policy director at Defending Rights & Dissent, said: “Rep. Luna’s subpoena of investigative reporter Seth Harp is clearly designed to chill and intimidate a journalist doing some of the most significant investigative reporting on U.S. Special Forces. Her own statement makes clear that far from having a valid legislative purpose, she seeks to hold a journalist ‘accountable’ for what is essentially reporting she dislikes. Her rationale is based on easily debunkable disinformation. Harp did not share classified information about the U.S. regime change operation in Venezuela. And even if he had, his actions would firmly be protected by the First Amendment. This is a dangerous assault on the press freedom, as well as the U.S. people’s right to know. It is shameful it passed the committee.”

Bobby Block, executive director of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation, added: “This is a naked attempt to intimidate a journalist for doing his job. Rep. Luna’s own words make clear this subpoena has no legitimate legislative purpose — it’s about punishing reporting she doesn’t like. That kind of abuse of power strikes at the heart of the First Amendment and threatens the public’s right to know.”

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