DOJ Arrests Journalists in Unprecedented "Authoritarian Breach" of Constitution
What's in the latest Epstein files. The nationwide anti-ICE economic blackout. Why is ICE quietly buying old warehouses? And a Q&A with Errin Haines about the arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort.
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Vancouver, anyone? UK? Somewhere in Latin America with good Wi-Fi and no extradition treaty? Mostly joking. Until today, the threat to press freedom felt theoretical.
This morning, federal agents arrested Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, both independent journalists. The charges? A judge already dismissed one version. So the DOJ went with: disrupting church services while reporting. (Under Trump, ICE has disrupted church services across the country.)
Yes, the timing is convenient: 3 million Epstein pages released the same day. And yes, it’s designed to overwhelm and exhaust, to make it impossible to focus on any single outrage. But this is also a shot across the bow to any journalist covering ICE operations. It’s meant to chill reporting.
For years, when I’ve asked security experts how to assess risk as an independent journalist — working without the institutional backing, the lawyers, the security infrastructure of a major newsroom — they’ve given me the same answer: “Come back and talk to me when they arrest the first journalist.”
We’re there now.
I spoke with Errin Haines, a journalist and the president of the National Association of Black Journalists. She told me the response from the journalism community has been powerful, and that moments like these don’t weaken resolve, they sharpen it. When an administration works this hard to suppress truthful reporting, it reveals exactly how threatening that truth must be.
Watch our conversation below.
One more thing. The work ahead requires resources we didn’t need before — legal counsel, security measures, the ability to protect our team and expand reporting when it matters most. If you’re in a position to help sustain this, I’d ask you to help us by becoming a paid subscriber, giving gift subscriptions, or making a tax-deductible donation to News Not Noise here. This is how independent journalism endures. If you’re not in a position to do this, I understand completely and thank you for being here.
Also in this newsletter: A nationwide economic blackout to protest ICE. New Epstein files released, including striking allegations about Trump. Why ICE is spending millions buying old warehouses around the country. (It’s not good.) Senate strikes a last-minute deal on ICE funding. Big news about Luigi Mangione. And more on the Fed, ICE’s next target, and remembering Catherine O’Hara.
Here Are Your Headlines
Money Talks: People and businesses across the country are striking today, staying home from school, and refraining from shopping in a nationwide economic blackout to protest ICE. Schools are shut, businesses closed (or have pledged to donate revenue), and thousands are braving frigid temperatures to take to the streets. Scott Galloway wants to take this a step further. He and Kara Swisher argue this moment demands a true ongoing economic blackout, and he launched a tool to help people identify and unsubscribe from companies supporting and enabling ICE. (We’re talking major corporations, not independent journalists!) “A day is an annoyance,” Galloway said in conversation with Swisher. “It needs to be a week or a month, and it needs to be national.… The only thing these people care about is whether their stock goes down. That’s it. And if their stock goes down … they’re going to finally find their testicles and come out and speak out against this guy.”
First Amendment’s Acid Test: The DOJ on Friday morning arrested independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort in connection to their coverage of a peaceful protest at a Minneapolis church. Two other individuals were also arrested. Arresting journalists for reporting is practically unheard of in the US. This is a chilling escalation in the Trump administration’s assault on freedom of speech. Here’s what we know.
Unheard Of: When federal agents arrived outside Fort’s house on Friday, she was livestreaming on Facebook. She said she had been indicted by a grand jury, and a White House aide seemed to confirm the same was true for Lemon. But this wasn’t the DOJ’s first attempt at arresting the journalists. Federal prosecutors initially tried to justify arrest warrants for the pair through a criminal complaint. A magistrate judge refused to sign the warrants for lack of evidence, which reportedly “enraged” Attorney General Pam Bondi. So the DOJ escalated the matter, taking it to Minnesota’s Chief Judge Patrick Shiltz, a George W. Bush appointee and staunch conservative. The US Attorney for Minnesota, a former commercial lawyer who had no prosecutorial experience when he was appointed in October, argued this was an emergency and the warrants were “urgently needed” to “protect the public.” Judge Schiltz dismissed this as “frivolous,” said this was not “an actual emergency,” and noted there was no evidence Lemon had engaged “in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.” He further stressed that the DOJ’s “unprecedented” request “is unheard-of in our district, or, as best I can tell, any other district in the Eighth Circuit.” Instead of waiting for his judgment, the DOJ appealed directly to the Eighth Circuit Appeals Court — which also said no. With this avenue resoundingly shut, the DOJ appears to have switched to a second method: seeking an indictment from a grand jury.
Context: This controversy centers on a peaceful protest at Cities Church in St. Paul. The church has powerful friends in the MAGA movement; one of its elders, who also served as a lay pastor, is reportedly a field officer for ICE in the city. That’s why protestors demonstrated at the church on January 18. They interrupted the service and chanted anti-ICE slogans. That’s it. Lemon and Fort were there, filming and conducting interviews — i.e., doing journalism. But the DOJ has accused them of participating in a nefarious conspiracy against the church. Their proof? The indictment claims Lemon “peppered” the church’s pastor “with questions to promote the operation’s message.”
Losing FACE: The DOJ charged Lemon and Fort with two things. First, conspiring to deprive the congregation of the church of their civil rights. Second, violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The FACE Act was a response to deadly violence against abortion providers, passed in 1994 with bipartisan support after Dr David Gunn’s murder by anti-abortion extremists. It protects people accessing or providing reproductive health care and related health care facilities. To win votes from Republicans, the Act also included similar protections for places of worship. The Trump administration’s use of the FACE Act against Lemon and Fort is incredibly cynical. On January 23, just days after Trump took office, he pardoned 23 people convicted of violating the FACE Act. The next day, the DOJ directed its Civil Rights Division to dismiss pending abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions. Meanwhile, DOJ officials, including Pam Bondi, have pledged to use the FACE Act to protect what the Center for Reproductive Rights calls “fake clinics” — centers that purport to provide reproductive health care services, but actually use misinformation, fearmongering, and shame to bully vulnerable pregnant women away from abortion. So to recap: pardon FACE Act violators, move to protect fake clinics, then arrest journalists under the FACE Act.
Hypocrisy: The Trump administration rescinded a policy preventing ICE from targeting churches (and schools and hospitals). In fact, the day before the church protest in St. Paul, ICE agents detained two Hispanic men renovating a church exterior in LA, forcing the service inside to come to a halt.
“Bogus” Bondi: During the protest at the church, Lemon and Fort made it clear they were not participating. “I’m just here photographing,” Lemon says in one of the videos he published. “I’m not part of the group.… I’m a journalist.” That didn’t stop the DOJ. Pam Bondi on Friday implied the pair participated in a “coordinated attack” on the church. The head of the Civil Rights Division told Megyn Kelly on Friday that they are “going to pursue this to the ends of the Earth.” The White House celebrated Lemon’s arrest, posting a picture with the caption: “When life gives you lemons… ⛓️” Journalists, media outlets, and civil rights organizations widely condemned the arrests as an assault on press freedom. A senior official at advocacy group Public Citizen slammed them as “a constitutional violation” and “authoritarian breach.” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called the arrests “deeply troubling,” saying that his state doesn’t “treat journalists like criminals for doing their jobs.” According to the chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, “These arrests under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists. The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them. The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment. If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is wrong.”
About Time: The DOJ on Friday released over 3 million pages related to Jeffrey Epstein. The agency didn’t just miss its deadline to release these files by several weeks — it reportedly still hasn’t released everything, despite Deputy AG Todd Blanche saying it would not release any more. There are reportedly 6 million pages of files. Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, accused the DOJ of withholding “roughly 50% of the Epstein files,” which he said was a “violation of the law.” The newly published files mention many powerful men connected to Epstein, including Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, and Elon Musk. It will take time to sort through them all; many are handwritten and not searchable. Here are some things we’ve learned.
Tip of the Iceberg: The files contain over 3,000 documents that mention Trump. One of them — which the DOJ briefly retracted before putting back online — is a summary of over a dozen tips related to Trump and Epstein provided to the FBI, which the agency created last year. The tips are unverified and sometimes from anonymous tipsters, but include accusations of sexual abuse by Trump. I want to be very clear that the claims in the files can include false reports. The DOJ claimed on Friday that the files “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” against Trump, which they said “are unfounded and false.” Allegations in these documents aren’t evidence of wrongdoing. With that context, here are some of the allegations contained in the release: There is a report of one individual who claimed that her female friend was “forced to perform oral sex on President Trump” when “she was approximately 13-14 years old.” Another individual told the FBI she was “a victim and witness to a sex trafficking ring at the Trump Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes.” The individual claimed that “some girls went missing” and said she had been “threatened by Trump’s then head of security,” who allegedly warned her that if she revealed what had occurred she would “end up as fertilizer for the back nine holes like the other c---s.” Blanche said that nothing in the released files would warrant further prosecutions.
Spider’s Web: One document, featured at the top of this newsletter, is a diagram of Epstein’s inner circle (mostly employees), created by federal authorities. Of the several people depicted, only one, Ghislaine Maxwell, was charged with helping Epstein. Maxwell recently claimed that 29 people, including four of Epstein’s co-conspirators, reached “secret settlements” and were not indicted as part of the investigation.
Lies, Lies, Lies: Records in the files reveal Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick planned a Christmastime trip to Epstein’s private island in 2012 — several years after he claimed to have cut ties with Epstein. Lutnick on Friday insisted he “spent zero time with” Epstein. But the files include an email from Epstein to Lutnick: “Nice seeing you.”
Is Anyone Surprised: The files contain at least two exchanges with Elon Musk and Jeffrey Epstein. In a November 2012 exchange Musk shares that he planned to take a helicopter to Epstein’s island and asked, “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” According to the files, Elon Musk also organized a visit to Epstein’s island in late 2013. In December, he asked Epstein in an email, “Is there a good time to visit?” Epstein assured Musk there is “always space for you.” It’s not clear from the emails whether Musk followed through with the planned visit. But they certainly seem to undermine his claim in September that “Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED.”
Nothing to See Here: In one document from 2019, the FBI noted that staff at the prison in which Epstein was found dead “admitted … they did not complete rounds” to check on him multiple times on the night he died. The camera system in Epstein’s unit was also down when he died. In another memo, also from 2019, a supervisor at the jail told the FBI that employees “used boxes and sheets to create what appeared to be a human body” to distract the media, while Epstein’s actual body departed “unnoticed” in another vehicle.
Blacked Out: As with previous releases, some of the newly released files are completely redacted — nothing more than black squares.
Suspects First, Victims Last: Speaking to reporters today, Deputy AG Todd Blanche claimed the DOJ missed its deadline to release the files because it was trying to protect victims. But Epstein survivors say they have already found instances in the newly released files where victims’ names are unredacted, which they slammed as a “betrayal.” One anonymous victim’s lawyer told CNN she had previously warned the DOJ that her client’s name was exposed in the previous batch of files. She said the agency never got back to her. And now her client has reportedly found her name unredacted in this new batch. So much for protecting victims. Blanche also told reporters today that the new files will not reveal names of abusers or a “hidden tranche” of covered-up information.
DIY Detention: ICE recently purchased a 400,000 square-foot facility in Arizona for $70 million, cash. Why? According to reports, the agency is buying industrial buildings across the country to convert them into makeshift detention centers. In other words, warehouses for humans. The agency has proposed such plans in at least 23 communities across the US. Locals aren’t happy; many, including Republicans, are resisting. In Kansas City, where ICE planned to transform a warehouse into a massive detention center capable of holding 7,500 people, the council quickly passed a five-year ban on new nonmunicipal detention facilities. In Chester, New York, ICE is reportedly eyeing an old auto parts distribution center, which multiple former workers warned became unbearably hot during summer. Hundreds of residents braved freezing temperatures to rally against the proposal on Thursday. One county legislator said that “the inhumane treatment that we know is happening across ICE detention centers in this country … has no place here in our backyard.” In Roxbury, New Jersey, the industrial building ICE wants to transform draws its water from a town that already has none to spare. Local Democrats argued the proposed site “would subject thousands of people, the majority of whom pose no threat to public safety, to confinement under cruel and inhumane conditions. Warehouses are designed for storage and shipping, not for safely housing people.” If successful, these 23 proposed conversions alone — and there is nothing indicating ICE isn’t planning more — could collectively imprison 80,000 people. For context, a record-breaking 73,000 people were detained in existing detention centers in mid-January, 75% more than last year. There’s another term for facilities that warehouse humans who haven’t been found guilty of a crime: concentration camps.
Buying Time: Trump and Senate Democrats struck a deal Thursday night to split DHS off from the rest of the government funding bill and allow another vote on just DHS in two weeks. This gives Congress time to agree on new guardrails for ICE. The Senate voted 71–29 on Friday afternoon in favor of this deal. It now returns to the House, which won’t vote until Monday at the earliest — meaning the government will partially shut down over the weekend. (What could possibly go wrong?)
Plotting: Trump this week hosted senior officials from Israel and Saudi Arabia at the White House to discuss possible military action against Iran. Saudi Arabia is reportedly pushing against a strike for fear of igniting a regional war; Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly told Iran he would not participate in any military actions against the country.
Investigation Opened: US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday announced the DOJ has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Alex Pretti’s death. He took pains to describe the investigation as “standard,” and refused to say whether the Civil Rights Division would be involved. DHS confirmed the investigation would be led by the FBI. Reminder: The DOJ is not conducting a similar investigation into Renee Good’s death.
Keep reading for information on… How a man allegedly tried to break Luigi Mangione free. Trump's choice to lead the Federal Reserve. A new video showing masked federal agents calling LA “our fucking city.” The city and community bracing itself for ICE’s next major operation. Why Trump is suing his own administration (again).
And remembering Catherine O’Hara.
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