US prosecutors refuse to say if they secretly obtained Don Lemon’s phone records
Experts have expressed deep concerns that the practice runs afoul of the fourth amendment’s right to privacy Federal prosecutors have declined to say whether they secretly obtained phone records for the journalist Don Lemon using an unusual administrative summons, his lawyers said in a Monday court filing , highlighting concern about a controversial legal authority the government has claimed to…
Federal prosecutors have not disclosed whether they covertly obtained phone records for journalist Don Lemon through an administrative summons, according to his lawyers. This revelation has raised significant concerns among experts about potential violations of the Fourth Amendment's right to privacy. In January, officials served Verizon with an administrative summons for Lemon's phone records between December 19 and January 20, 2021.
Unlike traditional criminal proceedings, this subpoena was issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and was not based on a grand jury or court-approved search warrant. The DHS claimed it requested the information under 19 USC 1509, an obscure law that grants the department the power to investigate records related to customs issues.
Legal experts have warned that the government is abusing this authority to gather data on journalists, activists, unions, non-profits, and online critics, and have expressed deep reservations about the practice's potential breach of the Fourth Amendment's privacy rights.
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