{
  "title": "Search: surveillance and subpoenas in the United States, from 2020",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?country=US&tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&from=2020",
  "filters": {
    "country": "US",
    "tactic": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
    "from": "2020"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 5,
  "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": "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": "north-america",
        "label": "North America"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
        "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "pressure",
        "label": "Pressure",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 4
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "municipal",
        "label": "Municipal",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "unknown",
        "label": "Unknown",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "donald-trump",
        "label": "Donald Trump"
      },
      {
        "value": "joe-biden",
        "label": "Joe Biden"
      },
      {
        "value": "laura-kelly",
        "label": "Laura Kelly"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2021",
        "label": "2021",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2026",
        "label": "2026",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 5
      }
    ]
  },
  "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": "2025-doj-rescinds-media-subpoena-guidelines",
      "title": "United States: Department of Justice rescission of rules limiting subpoenas of journalists, April 2025",
      "occurred_on": "2025-04-25",
      "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": "donald-trump",
      "leader_name": "Donald Trump",
      "issue_of_the_day": null,
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2025-04-25",
      "outcome_note": "In effect since 2025-04-25; the sources cited report no restoration of the earlier rules (as of 2026-09-22).",
      "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": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "On April 25, 2025, the Attorney General of the United States, Pam Bondi, head of the Department of Justice, the federal department that prosecutes federal crimes, rescinded rules adopted in 2021 and 2022 under her predecessor, Merrick Garland, that barred prosecutors from seeking reporters' records or testimony to identify the sources of leaks. Bondi's memo said leaks of sensitive information to the media undermine the department's ability \"to uphold the rule of law, protect civil rights, and keep America safe.\" The department returned to a test that weighs law enforcement interests against press freedom, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a United States non-profit that provides legal help to journalists.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-doj-rescinds-media-subpoena-guidelines"
    },
    {
      "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-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe",
      "title": "FBI raids Project Veritas founder's home over Ashley Biden diary investigation",
      "occurred_on": "2021-11-06",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US-NY",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "joe-biden",
      "leader_name": "Joe Biden",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Project Veritas had obtained and reported on a diary purportedly belonging to Ashley Biden during the 2020 campaign; federal prosecutors were investigating how the diary had been obtained and transported across state lines.",
      "outcome": "unknown",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "No charges were ever filed against O'Keefe; a court later allowed prosecutors to review the seized phones.",
      "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": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "FBI agents raided Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe's New York home and seized his phones as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, President Biden's daughter, which the group had reported on; O'Keefe was never charged.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe"
    },
    {
      "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"
    }
  ],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}