FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home • Hacker News Board

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#431

Post by pcaharrier » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:49 PM UTC

dugidugout wrote: post #292

pcaharrier wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>So in this case the government is raiding the home of someone who did not commit any crime, in the hopes of getting at people who might have. I looked at a lot of search warrant affidavits in a previous job and there's really nothing all that unusual about this aspect (doing it to a member of the press or doing it on a pretext are separate issues that I'm not commenting on). Police execute search warrants at other l…

I appreciate the added nuance here and would like to hear your comments on the seperate issue of doing this to a member of the press, or better, the sepcific pretext presented by the reporting: > The warrant, she said, was executed “at the home of a Washington Post journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor. The leaker is currently behind bars.” >…

As long as there's probable cause for some crime, the subjective motivations of the officer are almost never going to enter the legal analysis. Whren v. United States[1] was a case about a pretextual traffic stop, but the core reasoning (unanimously) was about what the Fourth Amendment requires/allow. For example, if police have a "hunch" you're selling drugs but not probable cause, they can just wait for you to run a stop sign or something and then pull you over and see if you left something in plain view, or if you act nervous, or try to get consent to search. At that point, the fact that the initial reason they started focusing on you was a mere hunch doesn't matter legally speaking. If this sounds like it can be used to make life hard for people that law enforcement doesn't like, you're not wrong. In my job we really didn't see how challenges to search warrants turned out, but as far as I'm aware the Supreme Court has never said "Whren only applies to traffic stops and not search warrant affidavits."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whren_v._United_States

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#432

Post by tmaly » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:50 PM UTC

snowwrestler wrote: post #88

To clarify why it’s aggressive: federal employees have a legal duty to secure classified information, but everyone else does not. Reporters are not federal employees and it’s not illegal for them to have or discuss classified materials. Most of what Snowden leaked was classified, and remains classified to this day , but you and I can read about it on Wikipedia. The government pursued Snowden because he was legally ob…

Sending the FBI after journalists is not new. They did it in 2010 and 2013 on a much bigger scale.

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#433

Post by Nicook » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:50 PM UTC

cathyreisenwitz wrote: post #37

“When populists get into power, the rhetorical discourse frames tend to be used to implement successive autocratic measures, such as limiting opposition through electoral manipulation, thwarting the free press, changing the constitution in their own favor, and circumscribing minority, civil, political, and economic rights. Populists are usually not against electoral democracy per se, but rather at odds with liberal d…

"Liberal Democracy" is such a charged word.

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#434

Post by pcaharrier » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #373

rkagerer wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...they don't get paid to help you clean up afterwards. Could you litigate to recover the costs and repair any damage done? Is there case law around what is a reasonable level of dishevelment?

You can file a civil suit against the police department, but results are far from certain. Unless it was a case of the cops raiding the wrong home entirely and you managed to make the news the success rate is not great.

And even then . . . https://ij.org/if-you-break-it-you-buy-it-unless-youre-the-p...

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#435

Post by rmah » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

peab wrote: post #194

njovin wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if it's fair to say we're chilling - there have been fairly organized (although admittedly not very large) protests around the nation related to the killing of Nicole Renee Good. I live in southern California and there were at least 6 within easy driving distance this past weekend. Whenever ICE goes into a new city, they're meeting more and more community resistance. The protestors have mostly been very…

I understand protesting ICE for better accountability, they certainly need to be held accountable. But I don't understand those who protest the presence of ICE as a concept. Are there any countries that don't enforce their immigration laws?

It saddens me that your rather innocuous comment has been down-voted so aggressively. Immigration enforcement is required. Illegal immigration should be discouraged. ICE's current tactics seem overly aggressive to me and, yes, seem to be used politically. But immigration laws should still be enforced. I imagine you'd agree that if ICE agents/supervisors act beyond the scope of their duties or with excessive force, they should be disciplined/prosecuted. I also have a hard time understanding people who don't agree with what I just wrote. I can only imagine those that want to disagree think I'm writing with some sort of underlying agenda and in code to push some broader political narrative (I'm not).

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#436

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

10xDev wrote: post #411

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting that Renee Good was shot because she was protesting after she happened upon ICE operating in her city. More than just weekend protests are happening. Few people in any of the blue sanctuary cities ICE is terrorizing actually want ICE to be there and those who don't frequently make themselves heard, sometimes resulting in their tragic end. Yes, some protests happen when it's convenient for the protes…

If you compare this to what is happening in Iran, US citizens are docile. A "peaceful protest" is an oxymoron.

> If you compare this to what is happening in Iran, US citizens are docile.

This is still moot. Even if they appear such (even if they are such) it does not diminish the validity nor righteousness of their message.

> A "peaceful protest" is an oxymoron.

This is false by a plain understanding of the words. A "protest" is an expression against something. "Peaceful" means nonviolent. Obviously expressions can be nonviolent.

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#437

Post by Fazebooking » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:52 PM UTC

Journalists are the backbone of a healthy democracy.

FU USA FU

And just to be clear: The biggest military force of the world threatens denmark, scrambles the economy around the world due to sudden politic changes (tarifs) and destroys its own integrity as an ally

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#438

Post by rolph » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:53 PM UTC

belorn wrote: post #299

snowwrestler wrote: post #88

To clarify why it’s aggressive: federal employees have a legal duty to secure classified information, but everyone else does not. Reporters are not federal employees and it’s not illegal for them to have or discuss classified materials. Most of what Snowden leaked was classified, and remains classified to this day , but you and I can read about it on Wikipedia. The government pursued Snowden because he was legally ob…

This is not a comment about if journalists homes should be more sacred than other people. Some countries do give journalists extra legal protection against this, but I do not know US law in this regard. To my understanding, a US search warrant authorize law enforcement officers to search a particular location and seize specific items. The requirements are: 1# filled in good faith by a law enforcement officer 2# Have…

#1 and #3 are the problems it works out to a trust us bro situation.

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#439

Post by munk-a » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

ActorNightly wrote: post #408

tuna74 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people are doing that. Every protester against ICE is doing exactly what you described. Some have been murdered for it.

wrong amendment

If we need to fall back on that one it's going to suck. It isn't going to be glorious or something to celebrate being a part of - it's going to absolutely suck to live through and where we end up at the far end is very much up to chance @see myanmar.

Re: FBI raids Washington Post reporter's home

#440

Post by Levitz » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

simgoh wrote: post #330

Levitz wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, there's no need whatsoever to even deal with this since it already happens everywhere else, it's not some niche, subtle matter, it's probably the most talked about subject in the last decade.

That doesn't really resonate with me because you could make that argument about anything, _especially since_ most of the items that are posted here are links to other websites. There's no need to talk about it here - you could just talk about it at the relevant site(s) comment section.

No. I'm not saying "There's is some other place", I'm saying "This is everywhere already", and for that reason there is no need for it to be explicitly here. There is by no means whatsoever any shortage of places in which those discussions could take place.

The argument is that it should be everywhere, and I staunchly disagree.