Dear Friend of Press Freedom:
ABC seems to have found its spine, but whether attorney and judicial watchdogs will follow suit when lawless lawyers harm the free press remains an open question. Meanwhile, a major government transparency win temporarily ensures that presidential records can’t be destroyed or locked away. Here’s more on what we’ve been working on to protect press freedom.
Complaint: Judge angled for federal gig while hearing Trump’s Pulitzer suit
A new complaint filed by Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) with a judicial ethics commission argues that Jeffrey Kuntz, chief judge of a Florida appeals court, violated his ethical duties by ruling in President Donald Trump’s favor in a defamation lawsuit while simultaneously seeking a nomination from Trump to the federal judiciary.
Kuntz failed to recuse himself from Trump’s frivolous defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board or disclose his conflict of interest to the parties. Two weeks after he ruled for Trump, the White House Counsel’s Office interviewed Kuntz for a judicial vacancy. He’s since been nominated to the federal bench.
“Trump can’t win his SLAPP suits on the merits, so he finds ways to corrupt the court system instead,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s chief of advocacy. “Attorney disciplinary commissions are notorious for inaction, often functioning more like protection rackets for lawyers and judges than regulators. That said, we hope the commission will rise to the moment and do the right thing.”
Press groups rally behind ABC as FCC targets ‘The View’
The American Broadcasting Company is (finally) living up to its name by standing up for a vital American value.
This week, a coalition of press freedom groups led by FPF joined an open letter in solidarity with ABC, which recently took a stand against the Federal Communications Commission, accusing the agency in an FCC filing of attempting to “chill critical protected speech.”
“Corporate owners only invite more bullying when they capitulate,” said FPF Deputy Director of Advocacy Adam Rose. “But history shows that fighting back is a winning formula.”
Court orders Trump team to preserve presidential records
A federal judge has temporarily ordered the Trump administration officials to follow the Presidential Records Act and preserve text messages, including Signal messages, related to its work. The judge issued the order in response to a motion filed in a lawsuit brought by FPF, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the American Historical Association, and American Oversight.
As FPF Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper said, the court’s order “takes an important step in ensuring that presidential records remain exactly what they have been for nearly 50 years: public property.” For more on the lawsuit, subscribe to FPF’s newsletter on government secrecy, The Classifieds.
Paramount, Ellisons silent on Trump CNN threats
Our shareholder demand to Paramount earlier this month focused on CEO David Ellison trading journalistic independence for merger approval. Ellison reportedly promised Trump “sweeping” changes at CNN if he buys its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
It made headlines, but one issue it raised deserves more attention, as FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm explained in a recent video. Last month, Trump took to Truth Social and announced a criminal investigation after CNN quoted an Iranian statement he didn’t like. Any investigation would be totally frivolous, but the president personally threatening a company you’re seeking to buy is a big deal.
But David Ellison and his centibillionaire father and financier Larry haven’t said a word — either about the threat’s materiality to the transaction or in defense of the rights of the journalists they hope to soon employ. That’s how little they care about both their shareholders and press freedom.
New bill seeks to curb abusive subpoenas
Administrative subpoenas allow the government to demand records from big tech and phone companies, in secret and without ever going before a judge. So it’s no surprise that the Trump administration has been caught exploiting them to target its online critics and watchdogs.
A new bipartisan bill in Congress, the Subpoena Abuse Prevention Act, would rein in those abuses. That’s good news for journalists, whose phone records have been targeted by both Democratic and Republican administrations.
“For journalists in particular, phone records can expose sensitive information about communications with confidential sources,” FPF Senior Adviser Caitlin Vogus explained. “This legislation would strengthen protections for those communications and help ensure that journalists cannot be targeted with subpoenas for doing their jobs.”
What we're reading
The Washington Post
The government’s baseless criminal charges against Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort are discouraging her from speaking to sources. They should be dropped immediately, along with the cases brought against other journalists who covered the St. Paul church protest.
Hell Gate
Chris Robbins, who had to sue the New York City Police Department so Gothamist could get press passes after eight years of waiting, gets it right: “Don’t we want to keep the definition of ‘journalist’ as wide as possible? Isn’t the alternative an invitation to the government to start pulling the ladder up on who gets to be a reporter?”
WEAR News
It’s good that Pensacola State College changed course, but it’s outrageous that it ever happened. Don’t colleges have professors and lawyers on hand with the minimal level of familiarity with the First Amendment needed to spot the constitutional problems here?
Haaretz
It’s been more than four years since Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead in the West Bank. It’s time for the U.S. to open up its investigation into her death.
Shelterforce
A landlord threatened a tenants’ union for speaking to the press before they’d settled a case and agreed to refrain from making public statements. That’s wrong. “The public deserves to know what’s going on in their communities economically [and] socially. If people are afraid to talk to reporters, we are poorer as a society for it,” FPF’s Rose explained.
The Volokh Conspiracy
SLAPPs, or strategic lawsuits against public participation, targeting journalists are always wrong, but it’s especially galling for a professor to try to use the legal system to silence a student newspaper. Hopefully this fee award will deter others who try to bully student journalists.
freedom.press/issues/judge-ang…
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