Reporter Audrey Hudson said the investigators, who included
an agent for Homeland's Coast Guard service, took her private notes and
government documents that she had obtained under the Freedom of Information Act
during a predawn raid of her family home on Aug. 6.
The documents, some which chronicled her sources and her
work at the Times about problems inside the Homeland Security Department, were
seized under a warrant to search for unregistered firearms and a “potato gun”
suspected of belonging to her husband, Paul Flanagan, a Coast Guard employee.
Mr. Flanagan has not been charged with any wrongdoing since the raid.
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| Audrey Hudson |
The warrant, obtained by the Times, offered no specific
permission to seize reporting notes or files.
The Washington Times said Friday it is preparing legal
action to fight what it called an unwarranted intrusion on the First Amendment.
“While we appreciate law enforcement’s right to investigate
legitimate concerns, there is no reason for agents to use an unrelated gun case
to seize the First Amendment protected materials of a reporter,” Times Editor
John Solomon said. “This violates the very premise of a free press, and it
raises additional concerns when one of the seizing agencies was a frequent
target of the reporter’s work.
“Homeland’s conduct in seizing privileged reporters notes
and Freedom of Information Act documents raises serious Fourth Amendment
issues, and our lawyers are preparing an appropriate legal response,” he said.
Maryland State Police declined comment, except to say that
“evidence and information developed during this investigation is currently
under review by both the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office and the
United State's Attorney's Office,” and that a determination has yet to be made
on any charges.
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