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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for nutherguy:

Homeland Security Shuts Down 'Intelligence' Reports on Journalists:

The acting secretary of homeland security said on Friday that he had shut down an intelligence examination of the work of reporters covering the government's response to protests in Portland, Ore., beginning an investigation into what he suggested was an infringement on First Amendment rights.

[...] The acting secretary, Chad F. Wolf, "is committed to ensuring that all D.H.S. personnel uphold the principles of professionalism, impartiality and respect for civil rights and civil liberties, particularly as it relates to the exercise of First Amendment rights," said Alexei Woltornist, the department's spokesman.

The intelligence office issued three "open-source intelligence reports" in the past week that summarized the Twitter posts of a Times reporter and the editor in chief for the blog Lawfare, noting that they had published leaked unclassified documents.

Mr. Wolf ordered the intelligence arm to "immediately discontinue collecting information involving members of the press" once he found out about the practice, Mr. Woltornist said.

[...] "The Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged that its intelligence reporting system, designed to combat terrorism, has instead been misused to target journalists who were reporting on the controversial activities of federal law enforcement officers," she said in a statement. "It is imperative that D.H.S.'s investigation determines how this happened and ensures it does not happen again."

[...] "If you're allowed to do this, what else are you allowed to do? If you're allowed to keep tabs on and file reports about my social media," he added, "are you allowed to gather all the other public record material that exists about me and create a dossier?"

The American Civil Liberties Union denounced the agency's actions on Friday, saying they were part of a larger pattern.

"Under Wolf's leadership, D.H.S. was caught just last year unconstitutionally targeting and building dossiers on journalists reporting on conditions at the border," the group's senior legislative counsel, Neema Signh Guliani, said in a statement. "For weeks, D.H.S. agents have been deliberately and brutally attacking journalists covering the Portland protests. And documents show that D.H.S. intelligence arm appears to be claiming authority it does not have. This administration's assault on the First Amendment continues to escalate."

Original Submission