Appeals court limits Trump DOJ’s access to journalists’ private chat logs

A federal appeals court’s three-judge panel unanimously limited Tuesday the Trump administration’s broad access to journalists’ LinkedIn records as part of a national security leak investigation, suggesting it could impart a “damaging blow” to First Amendment rights.

The ruling, written by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, stated the Justice Department’s (DOJ) attempt to access reporters’ private message data on the popular networking site could expose sources’ identities and, in turn, hinder future reporting on “governmental behavior of dubious legality and integrity.”

Wilkinson, Biden-appointed Nicole Berner and Andrew Wynn, an Obama appointee, also ruled a district court can narrow the set of records the Trump administration can access. It undercut the DOJ investigation into an unidentified news outlet’s reporting that revealed “a top-secret United States military operation in a foreign country.”

“Press freedom is among those things viewed by autocrats worldwide as a threat to their grip on power,” Wilkinson wrote. “Criminal prosecutions freed from partisanship and retribution, a fearless and independent judicial system, and a secure and accessible electoral process all serve to supplement press freedom in distinguishing liberty from oppression.”

Wilkinson later wrote that, while the judges respect the government’s desire to investigate leaks tied to national security concerns, “respect does not translate into license to round up” journalists’ private information for the purposes of doing so.

“Our review of this order persuades us that, in its present form, it is substantially overbroad,” he wrote.

Trump administration prosecutors asked LinkedIn to supply them with 18 months’ worth of private message data for certain journalists, with the also DOJ obtaining an order from U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Hanes forbade the platform from informing the reporters of such request.

LinkedIn challenged the order, stating it would impact its ability to communicate with its users. Wilkinson wrote that, while the order might “catch sources relevant to the government’s investigation,” it would also unveil confidential sources.

“The targeted journalists reported on almost 1,000 stories on a wide range of issues during the relevant period and investigated an unknown number of others never published,” he continued. “Many of those stories appear far removed from the Article that the leak at least partially enabled.”

The Trump administration has sought to limit some news outlets from covering the White House, briefly restricting CNN, Politico and MS NOW’s ability to report on grounds before a judge extended an order allowing them to cover the president. Though the administration has continued to bar CNN from performing its television press pool duties in certain areas of the campus and on Air Force One.

President Trump himself has frequently quarreled with reporters during his second term, asserting during an Ohio rally last month reporters from The New York Times and other media outlets should be “arrested .”