Federal prosecutors have declined to state whether they secretly obtained phone records for journalist Don Lemon using an administrative summons, according to a Monday court filing by his lawyers. This has raised concerns regarding a legal authority the government has claimed to gather information.
Mr Lemon was charged in January with conspiring to violate federal laws protecting religious expression, following his coverage of a protest at a church in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The protest involved activists who alleged a pastor was a member of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In January, officials served Verizon with an administrative summons for Mr Lemon's phone records from 19 December to 20 January. This request came directly from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under 19 USC 1509, an obscure law related to customs issues, rather than a grand jury subpoena or court-approved search warrant.
Mr Lemon's attorneys stated that records provided by the government do not clarify if Verizon complied with the request. They contacted prosecutors on Friday for clarification but had not received a response by Monday.
The DHS also reportedly used a 1509 summons to obtain six months of phone records for independent journalist Georgia Fort, who also covered the protest and was subsequently charged. Ms Fort's lawyers expressed shock that the records were obtained without notification or a chance to contest the demand.
On Monday, nearly all defendants in the case, including Mr Lemon, sought to have the case dismissed, citing the government's alleged abuse of 1509 summonses. A joint filing stated that the government had issued over 90 administrative summonses for various records, including telephone, airline, social media, car rental, and employment information, and argued that the DHS lacked the legal authority to investigate the case.