2 weeks ago
DOJ Prosecutor Avoids Ethics Sanction Over Reporter's Home Search
A journalist's job is to report the news.
Sometimes the government wants to know who told a journalist a secret.
The FBI searched the home of a reporter named Hannah Natanson and took her devices.
The government lawyer who asked for permission to do that search is Gordon Kromberg.
A judge said the lawyer should have told the court about a law that protects journalists.
That law is called the Privacy Protection Act.
A group called the Virginia State Bar checks whether lawyers behave properly.
It decided that the lawyer did nothing wrong.
Some people who support press freedom are upset about this decision.
They worry it could make journalists scared to do their jobs.
The Virginia State Bar dismissed an ethics complaint against longtime DOJ prosecutor Gordon Kromberg, citing a lack of clear and convincing evidence.
Kromberg faced scrutiny for his pursuit of a search warrant for the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson.
FBI agents searched Natanson's home and seized her devices in January as part of a leak investigation into a government contractor.
Magistrate Judge William Porter criticized Kromberg for failing to disclose the Privacy Protection Act and said the government seized all of Natanson's work product.
Press freedom advocates, including the Freedom of the Press Foundation, condemned the bar's decision as a blow to press freedom.
- Who
- Gordon Kromberg, a longtime assistant US attorney; Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson; and the Virginia State Bar.
- What
- The Virginia State Bar dismissed an ethics complaint against Kromberg over his pursuit of a search warrant for Natanson's home.
- Where
- Eastern District of Virginia; the search occurred at Natanson's home.
- When
- The search warrant was executed in January; the judge's criticism came in February; the bar dismissed the matter in July.
- Why
- Kromberg was accused of failing to disclose the Privacy Protection Act, which limits government seizure of journalists' work product, in the warrant application.
Press freedom advocates
Kromberg and his supporters
Ethics ruling
Press freedom advocates
The bar's dismissal overlooks Kromberg's nondisclosure and chills press freedom following a 'shocking raid of a journalist.'
Kromberg and his supporters
The bar correctly concluded the evidence did not show a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Privacy Protection Act application
Press freedom advocates
The omission undermined the court's confidence in government disclosures and could have led the court to reject the warrant application.
Kromberg and his supporters
Omitting discussion of the PPA is routine department practice, and Kromberg genuinely and reasonably concluded the law did not apply.
Key facts
- Subject
- Gordon Kromberg, assistant US attorney (Eastern District of Virginia)
- Reporter
- Hannah Natanson, Washington Post
- Decision
- Ethics complaint dismissed by Virginia State Bar
- Evidence standard
- Clear and convincing evidence
- Timeline
- Home search in January; judge's criticism in February; dismissal letter in July
- Judge's finding
- Kromberg failed to identify the Privacy Protection Act; his explanation was 'inadequate'
- Underlying investigation
- Government contractor accused of transmitting classified national defense information
- Representation
- Torridon Law and McGuireWoods
Quotes
Judge William Porter
U.S. District Court magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Virginia
“Had he been candid it might have prevented a shocking raid of a journalist by a blatantly anti-press DOJ, and the chill on the free press it has caused.”
livemint.com
“Those of us who have worked with Mr. Kromberg instinctively knew that he would never violate the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
livemint.com
Sources
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