{ "title": "Incidents: surveillance and subpoenas, outcome reversed", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&outcome=reversed&view=cards", "filters": { "tactic": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "outcome": "reversed", "view": "cards" }, "sort": "date", "count": 8, "page": 1, "pages": 1, "per_page": 50, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "facets": { "country": [ { "value": "AU", "label": "Australia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 33, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "MA", "label": "Morocco", "rsf": null }, { "value": "US", "label": "United States", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } } ], "continent": [ { "value": "africa", "label": "Africa" }, { "value": "north-america", "label": "North America" }, { "value": "oceania", "label": "Oceania" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas", "count": 8 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 2 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 1 }, { "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "label": "Funding and ownership pressure", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "pressure", "label": "Pressure", "count": 1 }, { "value": "punish", "label": "Punish", "count": 7 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 7 }, { "value": "municipal", "label": "Municipal", "count": 1 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 8 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "barack-obama", "label": "Barack Obama" }, { "value": "donald-trump", "label": "Donald Trump" }, { "value": "joe-biden", "label": "Joe Biden" }, { "value": "laura-kelly", "label": "Laura Kelly" }, { "value": "richard-nixon", "label": "Richard Nixon" }, { "value": "saadeddine-othmani", "label": "Saadeddine Othmani" }, { "value": "scott-morrison", "label": "Scott Morrison" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 5 }, { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1970s", "label": "1970s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1971", "label": "1971", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2014", "label": "2014", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2026", "label": "2026", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 8 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2026-cbp-seizes-grayzone-editor-phones-airport", "title": "Customs officers seize Grayzone editor's phones at Virginia airport over Iran reporting", "occurred_on": "2026-07-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-VA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "Blumenthal had traveled to and reported from Iran, a country CBP's own cited policy treats as grounds for additional scrutiny of travelers who have worked in or visited it.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2026-07-17", "outcome_note": "Customs returned Blumenthal's phones after he sued; litigation continued into discovery over possible data extraction.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal at Washington Dulles Airport, questioned him about his reporting trips to Iran, and seized both of his phones without his consent; the phones were returned a week later after he sued.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-cbp-seizes-grayzone-editor-phones-airport" }, { "slug": "2023-marion-county-record-raid-kansas", "title": "Police raid Marion County Record newsroom and publisher's home in Kansas", "occurred_on": "2023-08-11", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-KS", "level": "municipal", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "laura-kelly", "leader_name": "Laura Kelly", "issue_of_the_day": "The Record had been investigating the driving record of local restaurant owner Kari Newell, who had accused the paper of accessing her personal information without authorization, the claim the search warrant cited as its basis.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-08-05", "outcome_note": "Special prosecutors found no evidence Record reporters had committed a crime and moved to charge former police chief Gideon Cody.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Police in Marion, Kansas, led by Chief Gideon Cody, raided the Marion County Record's newsroom and publisher Eric Meyer's home, seizing computers, phones and files, on a warrant tied to an identity-theft investigation. The paper's 98-year-old co-owner, Joan Meyer, died the next day; a special prosecutor later found no evidence the paper had committed a crime.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-marion-county-record-raid-kansas" }, { "slug": "2021-doj-bans-seizing-reporters-records-garland", "title": "Justice Department bars seizing reporters' phone and email records", "occurred_on": "2021-07-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "joe-biden", "leader_name": "Joe Biden", "issue_of_the_day": "In mid-2021, The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN separately disclosed that the Justice Department had secretly seized their reporters' phone and email records years earlier while investigating leaks, including of information about contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russia.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2025-04-25", "outcome_note": "Attorney General Bondi rescinded these protections in April 2025, restoring the department's earlier discretionary balancing test.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After it came to light that the Trump-era Justice Department had secretly obtained the phone and email records of reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a policy barring prosecutors from using subpoenas or other compulsory process against journalists in leak investigations.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-doj-bans-seizing-reporters-records-garland" }, { "slug": "2020-morocco-omar-radi-pegasus-and-detention", "title": "Morocco: investigative journalist Omar Radi's phone is infected with Pegasus spyware and he is later detained", "occurred_on": "2020-07-05", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MA", "country_name": "Morocco", "continent": "africa", "jurisdiction": "MA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "saadeddine-othmani", "leader_name": "Saadeddine Othmani", "issue_of_the_day": "Radi worked as an investigative journalist for the Moroccan outlet Le Desk and had faced a prior court conviction and government-aligned media allegations before the spyware finding.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-07-01", "outcome_note": "Radi was released in July 2024 as part of a mass royal pardon, though he said his legal status left him unable to work as an accredited journalist afterward.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "A journalist's private communications were covertly extracted despite his taking precautions against hacking, then published by pro-government media and used against him in court.", "rsf": null, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Amnesty International confirmed Moroccan investigative journalist Omar Radi's phone had been infected with Pegasus spyware, and Moroccan police separately detained him overnight days later after private material from his devices circulated in pro-government media.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-morocco-omar-radi-pegasus-and-detention" }, { "slug": "2020-australia-high-court-invalidates-smethurst-warrant", "title": "Australia's High Court invalidates warrant for raid on journalist Annika Smethurst", "occurred_on": "2020-04-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "AU", "country_name": "Australia", "continent": "oceania", "jurisdiction": "AU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "scott-morrison", "leader_name": "Scott Morrison", "issue_of_the_day": "The 2019 raid stemmed from Smethurst's reporting on leaked, classified plans to expand the Australian Signals Directorate's domestic surveillance powers, which the government treated as a national-security leak investigation.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2020-05-27", "outcome_note": "The High Court found the 2019 warrant invalid but declined to order the AFP to return or destroy the material it had seized; weeks later the AFP announced it would not charge Smethurst.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 33, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Australia's High Court ruled that the warrant the Australian Federal Police used to raid News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst's home over a national-security leak was invalid, and weeks later the AFP said it would not lay charges against her, citing insufficient evidence.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-australia-high-court-invalidates-smethurst-warrant" }, { "slug": "2019-australia-afp-raids-abc-afghan-files", "title": "Australian Federal Police raid the national broadcaster over reporting on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan", "occurred_on": "2019-06-05", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "AU", "country_name": "Australia", "continent": "oceania", "jurisdiction": "AU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "scott-morrison", "leader_name": "Scott Morrison", "issue_of_the_day": "ABC's 2017 \"Afghan Files\" reporting on allegations that Australian special forces soldiers killed people in breach of the laws of armed conflict.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2020-10-15", "outcome_note": "The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided in October 2020 not to charge journalist Dan Oakes over the Afghan Files reporting.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 33, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Australian Federal Police spent hours searching the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) over its 2017 \"Afghan Files\" reports on alleged killings by Australian special forces that breached the laws of armed conflict, seizing files under a warrant citing the Crimes Act's ban on publishing classified material.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-australia-afp-raids-abc-afghan-files" }, { "slug": "2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling", "title": "United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source", "occurred_on": "2014-10-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A 2006 book account of a botched CIA operation meant to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2014-10-17", "outcome_note": "After the Supreme Court declined to hear Risen's appeal, the Justice Department chose not to compel his testimony or the identity of his source; Sterling was convicted without it.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "For years, federal prosecutors sought New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony identifying a confidential source in a CIA leak case; the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, but Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately chose not to force him to testify or name the source.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling" }, { "slug": "1971-us-nixon-enemies-list", "title": "Nixon White House compiles an enemies list naming journalists for official pressure", "occurred_on": "1971-08-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": "Nixon's aides were reacting to sustained critical coverage and commentary from named journalists during his first term, including Mary McGrory's columns, which an internal notation described as habitually critical to the president.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1973-06-27", "outcome_note": "The list became public during John Dean's Senate Watergate Committee testimony, discrediting the effort as Nixon's presidency unraveled over the wider Watergate scandal.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "White House Counsel John Dean wrote a memo on how to use federal agencies against President Nixon's political opponents, and the resulting list of more than 200 names included journalists such as CBS News correspondent Daniel Schorr. It became public during the 1973 Senate Watergate hearings.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-us-nixon-enemies-list" } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&outcome=reversed&view=cards&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&outcome=reversed&view=cards", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&outcome=reversed&view=cards" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }