With ICE arrests and detentions at their highest levels, immigration remains a key issue for voters less than two weeks before election day. Sign in or sign up to join the conversation
Fewer Americans than last year think the federal government is effective at making a positive impact on people’s lives, according to a new poll released Wednesday. In the Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society survey, about 43 percent of respondents said the federal government has been effective in making a positive impact on people’s lives. This is…
Fewer Americans than last year think the federal government is effective at making a positive impact on people’s lives, according to a new poll released Wednesday. In the Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society survey, about 43 percent of respondents said the federal government has been effective in making a positive impact on people’s lives. This is…
The State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency U.S. government employees and their family members from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the Iranian-backed Houthis have continued to attack the country. “As the Department has repeatedly emphasized, the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly, including beyond that immediate area,” a State Department spokesperson told The…
The State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency U.S. government employees and their family members from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the Iranian-backed Houthis have continued to attack the country. “As the Department has repeatedly emphasized, the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly, including beyond that immediate area,” a State Department spokesperson told The…
Lawyers who represented Olympic canoeist David Hearn in a now-defunct criminal case alleging he vandalized the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are urging the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) internal watchdog to reconsider a probe into how the indictment and prosecution were handled. A letter sent Wednesday from Hearn’s legal team to Inspector General Don Berthiaume said…
Lawyers who represented Olympic canoeist David Hearn in a now-defunct criminal case alleging he vandalized the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are urging the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) internal watchdog to reconsider a probe into how the indictment and prosecution were handled. A letter sent Wednesday from Hearn’s legal team to Inspector General Don Berthiaume said…
The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions targeting a law firm, shipping agents and nine vessels accused of helping Iran move oil and other commodities through international...
GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno (Ohio) said Tuesday he will introduce legislation to expand access to the Trump administration’s investment accounts for children to Americans younger than 40. “This is a game-changer and I’ll lead the bill in the Senate to make it happen,” Moreno wrote on the social platform X. “Trump Accounts are already transforming…
GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno (Ohio) said Tuesday he will introduce legislation to expand access to the Trump administration’s investment accounts for children to Americans younger than 40. “This is a game-changer and I’ll lead the bill in the Senate to make it happen,” Moreno wrote on the social platform X. “Trump Accounts are already transforming…
Steve Witkoff’s flattery of the Russian leader could be just the start of a mendacious stratagem from a US president who says Moscow ‘has been fine on Ukraine’
They say the first casualty of war is truth. For the Trump administration, the road to peace with Russia now encompasses some extraordinary lies.
Steve Witkoff delivered one as he sat down with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close the deal on Russia’s land grab in Ukraine with the White House’s strategy of maximum pressure on Kyiv and saccharine flattery of the Kremlin.
Steve Witkoff’s flattery of the Russian leader could be just the start of a mendacious stratagem from a US president who says Moscow ‘has been fine on Ukraine’
They say the first casualty of war is truth. For the Trump administration, the road to peace with Russia now encompasses some extraordinary lies.
Steve Witkoff delivered one as he sat down with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close the deal on Russia’s land grab in Ukraine with the White House’s strategy of maximum pressure on Kyiv and saccharine flattery of the Kremlin.
Democratic strategist James Carville quipped Tuesday he “can’t sleep” because of his “Trump derangement syndrome,” referring to the fake condition some use to describe a person with an intense worry about and fixation on what President Trump does. Carville said in an appearance on podcast network Politicon’s YouTube channel that political commentators like comedian Bill…
Democratic strategist James Carville quipped Tuesday he “can’t sleep” because of his “Trump derangement syndrome,” referring to the fake condition some use to describe a person with an intense worry about and fixation on what President Trump does. Carville said in an appearance on podcast network Politicon’s YouTube channel that political commentators like comedian Bill…
A Venezuelan man who was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a traffic stop in Austin last month has been indicted on a federal assault charge. A federal grand jury indicted Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, on one count of assaulting, resisting, impeding and obstructing a federal officer. Prosecutors…
A Venezuelan man who was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a traffic stop in Austin last month has been indicted on a federal assault charge. A federal grand jury indicted Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, on one count of assaulting, resisting, impeding and obstructing a federal officer. Prosecutors…
The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Tuesday it corrected millions of Social Security number (SSN) database files, including death records and citizenship information, partially using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) service. “The Social Security Number database is our country’s books and records. The database’s accuracy is essential to maintaining integrity of government services…
The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Tuesday it corrected millions of Social Security number (SSN) database files, including death records and citizenship information, partially using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) service. “The Social Security Number database is our country’s books and records. The database’s accuracy is essential to maintaining integrity of government services…
One of the unfortunate quirks of the American system is that you can't lie to the government, but the government can lie to you. Samuel Tunick found himself on the receiving end of this setup last year at Atlanta International Airport. When agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asked for his phone password, he allegedly gave them a self-destruct code that wiped his data. Tunick now faces five years in prison for destroying evidence.
It turns out that the feds were lying to Tunick the entire time. A new court filing, first reported by 404 Media, shows that the DHS had sent out an order to seize Tunick's phone over his involvement in environmentalist protests in Atlanta. When he landed at the airport, however, agents told Tunick that they were looking for "kiddie porn" and he would be allowed to leave with his phone if he cooperated. They also repeatedly denied him access to his lawyer when he asked.
"There can be no real debate that if law enforcement had acted similarly elsewhere in Atlanta, their actions would be unconstitutional. But the government says it was entitled to act this way because Mr. Tunick was returning from an international vacation" in the Dominican Republic, his lawyers wrote in the filing, which includes internal DHS communications and excerpts from his interrogation video.
U.S. law recognizes a "border exception" to Fourth Amendment privacy rights, allowing federal agents to search incoming travelers for contraband. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) claims that this exemption also allows them to hold travelers for questioning and search their electronic data. Tunick's case reveals just how widely the agency stretches this loophole.
A few hours before Tunick landed, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent Travis Mcghie emailed the CBP station in Atlanta with his photo and information, stating that he is under investigation for "suspected terrorist activities." (Tunick is involved in Save the Atlanta Forest, also known as Stop Cop City, a protest movement against a local police training center.) The email asked CBP to "conduct a 100% baggage exam, retain all electronics and collect passcodes," stating that the HSI will be at the airport to conduct an interrogation.
Pulled into the secondary screening room, Tunick "almost immediately" told CBP officers that "I don't really want to speak without a lawyer any more," according to the filing, which cites the interrogation tape. He would ask for a lawyer multiple times.
The agents asked Tunick if he had "kiddie porn" on his phone and stated that "because you're refusing to talk, we have the authority to go through your phone to see what we're looking for." One of them, Latoya Castro, told Tunick that "either you can give us your password so that we can go through it no problem, or you can refuse to do that, unfortunately, we will have to seize your phone."
Both of those statements were a lie, of course. The HSI's email had asked CBP to take Tunick's phone, whether or not he cooperated.
The lie about child porn may not only have been meant to intimidate Tunick. While there arecontradictory lower court rulings about the border search exemption, some courts have ruled that the CBP can only search electronics for "digital contraband," or files that are themselves illegal. A search for child sex abuse material would be on stronger legal ground than a search for mere evidence of other crimes.
Tunick was using GrapheneOS, a secure phone system that allows users to set both a real password and a "duress password" that wipes out all data when entered. The interrogation tape shows his phone appearing to reset after he gave the officers a passcode. HSI agent Nathan Burnham and FBI agent Andrea Coble then entered the room.
"You are not under arrest. Once these gentlemen are done with you, pursuant to your entry into the country, you're free to leave," Burnham said, referring to the CBP officers.
Tunick's lawyers argue that the judge should throw out the phone password Tunick provided and everything that resulted from entering it as an "involuntary" response made under "unlawful interrogation," because the CBP agents did not read Tunick his Fifth Amendment rights and ignored his multiple requests to consult with his lawyer before answering their questions.
The CBP claims that secondary screening at the border doesn't count as a criminal investigation, so detainees don't have the same rights as criminal suspects. "Since the international arrivals inspection is an administrative function, CBP policy and federal regs do not permit the presence of lawyers during secondary examinations," a spokesmantoldReason earlier this year.
But Tunick's lawyers insist that his experience was "far outside" a normal border crossing: He was accused of a serious crime to his face, faced an investigation for a different serious crime he didn't know about, and clearly could not leave the situation until he gave information to government agents.
"I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and their privacy, and the government hopes to set a precedent that no one has the right to privacy," Tunick told 404 Media.
Defend the Atlanta Forest, the movement that Tunick is involved with, has been amajor nuisance for authorities in Georgia. Protesters attacked and burned construction equipment throughout 2022, and police shot a protester in 2023 under unclear circumstances, claiming that they were fired at during a raid.
The Trump administration has brought down the federal government against the movement. In June 2026, the Department of Justice broughtfederal charges against two alleged arsonists, citingNational Security Presidential Memo 7, which directs the feds to go after left-wing domestic terrorism.
But beyond the email line about "suspected terrorist activities," there is no indication of what specific crimes the feds suspected Tunick of, or why they suspected him. And the whole setup of the interrogation was designed to hide those answers. In fact, instead of charging Tunick under typical obstruction or evidence-destruction laws, federal prosecutors chose ararely-used statute that doesn't require them to disclose what the underlying investigation was about.
"Many times the government wants to highlight what it was trying to investigate because that ups the stakes on what the defendant was doing," former prosecutor Daniel RichmantoldThe New York Times. "This is a case where I think they're trying to avoid exactly that by focusing only on the destruction, and not what the investigation was about."
China slammed the Trump administration’s move to sanction five Chinese companies linked to a former Google engineer accused of intellectual property theft, calling it “egregious.” The State Department announced the sanctions on Monday, stating the firms are connected to Chinese national Linwei Ding, who was convicted earlier this year of stealing AI-related trade secrets from…
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