Wyden Blasts Kristi Noem for Abusing Subpoena Power to Unmask ICE Watcher

Sen Ron Wyden D-Ore is calling on the Department of Homeland Defense to cease what he describes as an illegal abuse of customs law to reveal the identities of social media accounts tracking the activity of ICE agents according to a letter shared with The Intercept This development hinges on a contemporary effort by the Trump administration to unmask Instagram and Facebook accounts monitoring immigration agents in Montgomery County Pennsylvania It s not the first effort of its kind by federal bureaucrats In The Intercept disclosed an attempt by U S Customs and Margin Protection to reveal the identity of the operator of a Twitter account critical of President Donald Trump by invoking without explanation its legal authority to investigate the collection of tariffs and import duties Following inhabitants outcry and scrutiny from Wyden the Department of Homeland Defense rescinded its legal summons and launched an internal examination A subsequent overview by the DHS Office of Inspector General revealed that while CBP had initially claimed it needed the account s identity to investigate workable criminal violations by CBP bureaucrats including murder theft and corruption it had issued its legal demand to Twitter based only on its legal authority for the ascertainment collection and recovery of customs duties The description concluded that CBP s purpose in issuing the summons to Twitter was unrelated to the importation of merchandise or the assessment and collection of customs duties and thus may have exceeded the scope of its authority The OIG proposed a handful of reforms to which CBP agreed including a new initiative that all summonses be reviewed for legal sufficiency and receive a sign-off from CBP s Office of Professional Responsibility Eight years and another Trump term later CBP is at it again In October Media released that DHS was once again invoking its authority to investigate merchandise imports in a bid to force Meta to disclose the identity of MontCo Public Watch a Facebook and Instagram account that tracks the actions of immigration personnel north of Philadelphia A federal judge temporarily blocked Meta from disclosing user input in response to the summons In a letter sent Friday to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Wyden demanded the establishment to cease what he describes as manifestly improper use of this customs investigatory authority writing that DHS appears to be abusing this authority to repress First Amendment protected speech The letter refers to the OIG review noting that CBP has a history of improperly using this summons authority to obtain records unrelated to import of merchandise or customs duties The Meta Summonses appear to be unrelated to the enforcement of customs laws On the contrary DHS apparently is trying to expose an individual s identity in order to chill criticism of the Trump Administration s immigration policies Wyden concludes with a request to Noem to rescind these unlawful summonses and to ensure that DHS complies with statutory limitations on the use of U S C going forward Related The Feds Want to Unmask Instagram Accounts That Identified Immigration Agents The MontCo Group Watch effort followed an earlier attempt this year to unmask another Instagram account that shared First Amendment-protected imagery of ICE agents in residents This subpoena first communicated by The Intercept focused not on merchandise imports Instead it invoked law relating to the privilege of any person to enter reenter reside in or pass through the United States even though the subpoena was issued pertaining to officer safety not immigration enforcement DHS did not forthwith respond to a request for comment The post Wyden Blasts Kristi Noem for Abusing Subpoena Power to Unmask ICE Watcher appeared first on The Intercept