Oppose Jailing Journalists to Expose Their Sources

Oppose any effort to jail journalists as a tactic to force them to reveal their government sources. According to The Atlantic, White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has been pushing the DOJ to pursue criminal-leak investigations and reportedly insisted it wouldn't take long for journalists to give up their sources if arrested. That is not a law enforcement strategy. It is intimidation. Receiving and publishing leaked classified information is not illegal for journalists. The Supreme Court affirmed exactly that in 1971 when it ruled against the Nixon administration's attempt to suppress the Pentagon Papers. Jailing reporters to extract source names would shred that precedent and turn the press into an arm of executive enforcement. A free press depends on the ability to protect sources. When that protection disappears, so does accountability. I expect my elected officials to speak out against this plan and use every available tool to block it.