Dear Friend of Press Freedom:
An imprisoned journalist in Los Angeles has endured months of violence and medical neglect at the hands of federal agents. Plus, Disney takes a stand against the FCC’s anti-press antics, and you can too.
Imprisoned journalist faces horrifying conditions
Los Angeles-based journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias has been in ICE detention for more than 300 days. Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Deputy Director of Advocacy Adam Rose wrote for The Intercept about the horrific abuse he’s endured.
The government can’t make a journalist disappear simply by locking him in a cell. But by giving him drinking water filled with fly larvae, deleting surveillance footage of federal agents shooting him, and treating his gunshot wound with vitamin D and Bengay, they’re certainly trying. Rose also discussed Parias’ case on the “This Week On Ice” podcast.
Disney fights back against the FCC
Disney filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday alleging that the Federal Communications Commission — led by Donald Trump loyalist Brendan Carr — has been retaliating against it for reporting by ABC News that the president doesn’t like.
As FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said, “It’s about time for someone to take Carr and his FCC to court over their endless campaign of intimidation and retaliation against journalism that displeases Carr’s thin-skinned boss.” We hope this will encourage other outlets to fight back too.
You can fight the FCC’s abuses too
Disney’s suit is a significant step in combating Carr’s abuse of power. But he’s seeking to accrue more power to abuse: Trump’s nominee for fourth FCC commissioner is a Carr aide who has apparently been unable or unwilling to rein in Carr’s targeting of the press. If she’s confirmed, it’ll pave the way for Trump to fire the only dissenting voice at the FCC, Commissioner Anna Gomez.
White House statements are only for the wealthiest
While the president is selling advance access to official communications he posts on Truth Social, the Justice Department is working to keep the rest of the president’s records completely hidden from the public, FPF’s Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper writes for MS NOW.
That’s why FPF is suing the administration on both fronts: to stop Trump’s crooked scheme to monetize his posts and to force his administration to comply with the Presidential Records Act.
Dangerous DOJ memo expands presidential secrecy
In an unprecedented move, the DOJ has issued a memo that says executive privilege covers Trump’s communications with advisers outside the White House. That means corporate lobbyists and donors could have the ear of the president on national and foreign policy without any obligation to keep or release the records of their conversations with him.
ICE can watch you, but you can’t watch ICE
ICE has massively expanded its surveillance operations in the last five years, collecting DNA from nearly 1 million people a year, scanning irises, and paying private contractors to spy on people who criticize the agency online. Yet it can’t manage to get its agents to wear body cameras. Allowing the agency to surveil the public while evading transparency for itself is a recipe for rampant abuse.
Release of Biden recordings is a transparency win
In some much-needed good news for transparency, an appeals court just ordered the release of recordings of former President Joe Biden being interviewed by his memoir ghostwriter, tapes that came to light during a special counsel investigation into Biden’s handling of classified records. A different special counsel investigated Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at the end of his first term. The Knight First Amendment Institute is trying to get access to that special counsel’s report, and is pointing to the Biden ruling as it appeals a ruling blocking the report’s release.
What we’re reading
Feds struggle to explain redactions in Epstein files compliance case
Courthouse News Service
A judge may hold Department of Justice attorneys in contempt for defying the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Good. The public has the right to access these records. If the DOJ keeps stonewalling, the judge should follow through.
‘Frontline Voices’
WBAI
Somehow, the administration putting a plane full of journalists in harm’s way as involuntary decoys isn’t even the top press freedom story this month — but it shouldn’t be overlooked. FPF’s Stern discussed the episode and the rest of the laundry list of Trump’s attacks on the press, along with Caroline Hendrie of the Society of Professional Journalists and Nora Benavidez of Free Press.
Lawmakers mull new bill to prevent lawsuits aimed at silencing free speech
WyoFile
Both red and blue states have recognized the need to protect people from abusive lawsuits designed to silence speech. Wyoming is one of the few states still without an anti-SLAPP law — its lawmakers are right to try to change that.
NewsGuild sues DHS challenging visa rule affecting foreign journalists, others
The NewsGuild-CWA
The Trump administration is trying to impose time limits on foreign journalists’ visas, which could subject their work to government review every 240 days. Thankfully, the NewsGuild and others are suing to block the move.
ABC vs. the Trump FCC
'The Steve Gruber Show’
Press freedom is not a partisan issue, and FPF opposes censorship no matter who is in office. Watch FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm push back on the idea that opposing Trump’s attacks on the press is left-wing hypocrisy.
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