We’ve officially reached the point in the timeline when the federal government starts arresting journalists.
We didn’t plan to release an episode tonight, but it’s hard to predict anything anymore. We’re thankful Dave Aronberg, former state attorney of Palm Beach County, was able to jump on with us at the last minute to unpack the latest.
This morning, the Trump administration arrested two independent journalists—former CNN anchor Don Lemon and Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort. Fort went live on Facebook as agents were outside her home. You can hear her kids in the background.
Tonight, Fort was on CNN with Anderson Cooper when she said journalists are on trial and what is happening in Minnesota should be alarming to the entire nation. She added that mainstream media should be concerned, too.
Don Lemon was released from custody after a court hearing in Los Angeles, where he says agents arrested him overnight.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” Lemon said. “In fact there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”
A grand jury indicted Lemon and Fort, along with protest participants, on charges of conspiracy and interfering with First Amendment rights of the church-goers on Jan. 18. Protesters disrupted a service at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where it’s reported the pastor is an official with ICE. Both Fort and Lemon documented that protest and identified themselves as journalists.
“The First Amendment is broad. It is powerful. And a lot of the same people who are cheering this on the far right are the same people who claim that they stand up for the First Amendment and that they stand up for the Second Amendment,” Aronberg told us. “And we’ve seen now that their knowledge of the Constitution or their belief in the Constitution falls flat when it’s their side impinging upon these constitutional rights.”
Aronberg predicts these charges will never make it to a jury, similar to the cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, went on Jen Psaki tonight to discuss the charges and what it means for the rest of us.
“The first thing the Trump administration did was they attacked lawyers, then they attacked the journalists,” Lowell said. “And those are the two playbook, kinds of plays that authoritarian governments have done through history in order to stifle dissent. And if that weren’t enough, they brought the people that are supposed to be policing, and they literally killed two people.”
We also tackle the latest Epstein file drop, the FBI raid at the Fulton County election hub in Georgia, and the partial government shutdown that begins at midnight, despite the Senate passing a government funding bill.
Thank you Caro Henry, Janet Carter, Susie H, Gigi, M Hope, and many others for tuning into my our live video with Dave Aronberg!
