TSA Withdraws Journalist Subpoenas

The federal Transportation Security Administration withdrew a subpoena intended to force a journalist to reveal his confidential source for an internal security directive, two days after an agent showed up at the journalist’s home demanding the information.

The journalist, Chris Elliott, had published an internal document listing heightened security procedures in the wake of the attempted plane bombing on Christmas Day. The TSA subpoenaed Elliott and blogger Steven Frischling, Dec. 29, ordering them to comply within two days.

Frischling turned over his computer hard drive to the agency. Elliott did not comply, and his attorney, Anthony Elia, filed an objection in addition to requesting an extension of the two-day deadline.

Earlier in the day on Dec. 31, amid several press reports about the incident, the TSA indicated it would honor the deadline extension. And about 6:30 p.m., it withdrew the subpoena, with a lawyer for the agency saying it had enough information for its investigation into the leak of the document.

“This underscores the need for a federal press shield law,” Elia said. “Journalists and their sources perform an important function in our Democracy and they should be able to do their jobs without the specter of legal action or incarceration.”

According to news reports, the TSA also offered to pay for a new computer for Frischling, whose computer was damaged after he consented to the search of his hard drive.
“Needless to say, I’m delighted by this turn of events,” Elliott wrote on his blog, www.Elliott.org. “TSA did the right thing by withdrawing its subpoena.”