Snitches get stitches: journalist raided, notes and whistleblower names seized

Life can get very complicated for a reporter who writes things critical of the government.  It certainly does seem like the ham-fisted tactics are coming faster and heavier, now that we’ve got Chicago culture on the Potomac, and an Administration the mainstream press is extremely reluctant to criticize, even when the press gets pushed around.

My friend Audrey Hudson, who has written for Human Events and the Washington Times, found that out the hard way in August, when her home was raided by the Department of Homeland Security, the Maryland police, and the Coast Guard (for which her husband works.)  The ostensible purpose of the raid had to do with firearms – Audrey and her husband heard about this crazy thing called the Second Amendment and decided to keep and bear some of them.  But during the course of a fun-filled morning that involved troopers in full body armor marching through the house, they just happened to grab a big pile of her files and handwritten notes, including information that led to her exposes of… the Department of Homeland Security!  What a coincidence!

No one saw any need to tell Audrey they had tagged and bagged her notes until much later.  Ooopsie!

The material that was seized included documents she had legally obtained with Freedom of Information Act requests.  In order to confirm this, the material was handed over to the “source agency” for review.  That would be the Department of Homeland Security again.  You know, the department where Audrey’s previously anonymous sources still worked.  She came out with the story in an effort to warn the people she is now “terrified” to contact directly.

But what’s a few terrified, monitored, and oppressed journalists, when you’re building Utopia?  I’m sure that’s why the mainstream press doesn’t get worked up for more than a day or two at most, when a story like this breaks.  They know it’ll all work out in the end.  You can almost see the rainbow gates of Elysium, just beyond those guys in body armor.

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