The Trump administration is under fire for violating one of the most important civil rights for individuals: freedom of speech.
They are assumed to have obtained phone records from Washington Post journalists who had reported on allegations of Russia meddling with the 2016 election.
Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and Adam Entous, had received work, cell, or home phone records from the time period of April 15, 2017 to July 31, 2017. The Justice Department had sent letters to them because the newspaper was “deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists.”
Executive editor Cameron Barr comments that the Justice Department should “immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment.
” ACLU tweets, “This should never have happened. When the government spies on journalists and their sources, it jeopardizes freedom of the press.”
The records were seized but there was no specific reason as to why they were, they are holding back on the real reasons and will not admit to it.
Near the end of the Trump era, the three journalists had written about the US intelligence that suggested that Jeff Sessions, an individual who had become an attorney general under former president Donald Trump, had discussed the Trump campaign alongside the Russian ambassador.
They also wrote a story that talked about the Obama administration’s efforts on countering the Russian interference that occurred during the 2016 election.
US intelligence agencies came with the conclusion that Russia hacked into the computer severs of the Democratic National Committee while Trump campaigned against rival Hillary Clinton.
Trump has not spoken about Russia’s involvement during the leak, appearing to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin instead of his own intelligence agency.