Stop attacking Seth Harp’s First Amendment rights

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Screenshot via Democracy Now!

A House committee voted to subpoena journalist Seth Harp over his constitutionally protected reporting of the name of a commander involved in the Nicolás Maduro abduction, and a GOP representative asked the Justice Department to prosecute Harp under the Espionage Act. Tell Congress to cut it out and stand up for the First Amendment.

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Tell Congress to stand up for journalist Seth Harp’s constitutional freedoms

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Dear Representative,

I am ALARMED and OUTRAGED by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s bipartisan vote to subpoena journalist Seth Harp. The vote followed Harp’s reporting of the name and publicly available online biography of a Delta Force commander involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Whether or not you agree with Harp’s decision to publish that information, his reporting is clearly protected by the First Amendment, which allows journalists to report even classified secrets, as long as they don’t break the law to obtain them.

The subpoena has no legislative purpose, and you and your colleagues know the importance of journalist-source confidentiality. After all, the House unanimously passed the PRESS Act to protect journalists from subpoenas in 2024.

It is vital that you do EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER to ensure that this subpoena not go forward — as well as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s subsequent referral of Harp’s case to the Department of Justice for an unconstitutional criminal investigation. That referral baselessly alleges violations of the Espionage Act and other inapplicable laws, all premised on the absurd notion that naming government higher-ups is “doxxing” or otherwise illegal.

It is not the press’s job to keep the government’s secrets.

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