donal brown

Five former military and intelligence officials are suing the Trump administration claiming the government’s prepublication review system restricts their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit says those reviewing publications have too much power that they use to eliminate criticism of the  government while they speedily approve favorable memoirs by retired senior officials. (The New York Times, April 2, 2019, by Charlie Savage) The CIA and National Security Agency censor for “any legitimate government interest” and do

The Reporters Committee is asking the federal court in Washington, D.C. to release the grand jury information from the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Legal Director Katie Townsend said, “The calls for transparency are broad and bipartisan. The president himself has said the report should be made public. We agree. The public is entitled to see as much of the Mueller report, unredacted, as possible.” (Reporters Committee

Federal appeals court judges in New York City heard arguments in a key First Amendment case last week on whether President Donald Trump can ban people from his personal Twitter account he uses to conduct presidential business. The plaintiffs say in their complaint that the president has established a public forum that would make “viewpoint-based exclusion” unconstitutional. Justice Department lawyers are representing Trump in this personal matter. The appeals court will have to decide the

Prominent Los Angeles physician and entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong is gradually revealing his plan to resurrect the Los Angeles Times that suffered losses of $50 million over the last year. But rather than cut the newsroom, the new owner added almost 100 new reporters this last year. The new hires are essential in maximizing core reporting with a transmedia operation, “video, TV, audio, VR, games, and plain old-fashioned social media management…” The Times this week is

Even if Attorney General William Barr releases the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, expect heavy redactions, Most prominent would be content from grand jury proceedings, restricted by law. Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure obstacle, makes it a criminal act to reveal grand jury information. Other Freedom of Information Act obstacles;  Exemption 1 covers national security and in this case a counter-intelligence investigation;