FBI’s retaliatory probe of Times’ reporter is ‘off the rails’

“If Kash Patel was looking to disprove Williamson’s reporting about him using government resources for personal matters, siccing his agency on a reporter for retribution is a very strange way of doing it. You know the FBI is off the rails if even lawyers in Trump’s Department of Justice had to warn it that its retaliatory investigation lacked legal merit.

“It’s outrageous that a sober-minded FBI would even consider a theory that reporting methods like phone calls and emails might constitute stalking. That would be offensive even if the case didn’t involve the FBI’s own director. Patel’s job is to fight actual crime, not to chug beers in locker rooms, file SLAPP suits against the press, or baselessly investigate journalists.

“There have been instances at the local level of the government characterizing routine newsgathering as stalking or harassment. In 2023, Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers sought a restraining order against a reporter who knocked on her door to investigate her compliance with residency requirements. The same year, the mayor of Calumet City, Illinois, had a reporter ticketed for “hampering city employees” for asking officials questions. But these cases were seen as small-town shenanigans initiated by fringe politicians. It’s disgraceful that the federal government is now following the lead of these widely ridiculed local officials.”