Journalists for several major and local news outlets had their requests for credentials to cover a Group of 20 summit in Asheville, North Carolina, denied without explanation by the Treasury Department in August 2026.
Finance ministers, central bank governors and other senior officials from the world’s largest economies gathered from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 to discuss issues ranging from global market volatility and inflation to the U.S.-Iran war. Alan Rappeport of The New York Times and Matt Grossman of The Wall Street Journal had both sought credentials to cover the summit but were rebuffed, the Times reported.
According to Bloomberg News, its reporters based in the U.S., France, Italy, Japan and China were all denied credentials as well. It added that while German officials successfully lobbied for accreditation for Times reporter Jim Tankersley, they were unable to secure the same for a Bloomberg reporter traveling with German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil.
“I consider it unacceptable that journalists or entire news organizations are excluded. I have also made that clear, we have repeatedly made that clear in recent days,” Klingbeil told reporters on the second day of the summit. “I hope that there will be movement on this in the future.”
The local not-for-profit newsroom Asheville Watchdog reported that it too was denied credentials without explanation, and the managing editor for the free weekly Mountain Xpress told the Watchdog that their request went unanswered.
“Shutting selected journalists out of the G20 is another example of this administration trying to control coverage and penalize news organizations for reporting that is accurate and protected by the First Amendment,” Watchdog Editor-in-Chief Michael Stowe said in a statement.
A Treasury Department spokesperson told the Times that it was welcoming “nearly 300 members of the media from approximately a dozen countries” and highlighted that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would participate in numerous media engagements during the event.
“Members of the media will have a high level of access to policymakers throughout the event,” the spokesperson added, “and with that access comes a responsibility to report factual information consistent with established journalistic standards.”
While the department did not offer an explanation for the exclusion of reporters from the Times, Journal and Bloomberg, Bessent told The Associated Press “it has nothing to do with point of view.”
In a statement to the AP, the Times said that the refusal was “not just another disturbing effort by the administration to undermine independent journalism, but a blatant attempt to evade public scrutiny.”
“Excluding specific reporters and entire news organizations is a disservice to the public and an assault on press freedoms that we strongly condemn,” it continued.
A spokesperson for Bloomberg similarly condemned the denials, telling the news outlet that it “undermines media freedom and public accountability.”
“We will continue to advocate for full press access while reporting fairly and accurately on proceedings,” the spokesperson added.
Update: This article was revised to include details of the exclusion of reporters from additional outlets based in Asheville, North Carolina, from the G20 summit.
U.S. Coast Guard and other law enforcement officers hold a checkpoint on Aug. 29, 2026, outside an Asheville, North Carolina, inn where finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 countries are meeting.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"North Carolina","abbreviation":"NC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["Asheville Watchdog","Bloomberg News"],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":["Federal government: Agency"],"authors":[],"categories":["Denial of Access"],"targeted_journalists":["Alan Rappeport (The New York Times)","Matt Grossman (The Wall Street Journal)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":["Press credential or media list"]},{"title":"FCC Chair Brendan Carr targets news outlets","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets/","first_published_at":"2026-03-16T19:53:37.411000Z","last_published_at":"2026-09-01T19:45:36.619978Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-09-01T19:47:36.428881Z","date":"2026-08-18","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"As President Donald Trump’s second term continued in 2026, his Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, took steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration critically. We’re documenting Carr’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.
Also read about Carr’s efforts in 2025, and how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more.
This article was first published on March 16, 2026.
\r\n
Aug. 18, 2026 | ABC sues FCC for ‘retaliatory campaign’ over unfavorable coverage
\r\nJuly 22, 2026 | FCC says ABC license reviews to consider decision not to broadcast Trump speech
\r\nApril 28, 2026 | FCC orders early license renewal applications from ABC-owned stations
\r\nMarch 14, 2026 | FCC chair threatens licenses of broadcasters for Iran war coverage
Disney, the parent company of ABC, sued the Federal Communications Commission and its commissioners on Aug. 18, 2026, alleging that the agency was waging a retaliatory campaign against the broadcaster in violation of the First Amendment.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., attorneys for ABC alleged that, since the earliest days of President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration has carried out a sustained attack to punish and pressure the news outlet over coverage he deemed unfair.
The FCC, under the leadership of Brendan Carr, has pursued multiple investigations into Disney and ABC, most recently demanding all stations owned by the broadcaster submit license renewal applications, despite the process being at least two years premature for each.
“Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech—the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air,” the complaint said. “For months, the Administration has steadily increased the pressure on ABC, culminating in the present threat to the broadcasting licenses of the eight ABC Owned Stations.”
Attorneys for ABC highlighted that early license reviews are nearly unprecedented, and the FCC has never demanded simultaneous early renewal applications for all stations owned by a single network.
“The Commission’s true target is not the Stations’ employment practices or their carriage of a single presidential address; it is the content of Plaintiffs’ programming—and thus their speech,” the complaint argued, referencing an address Trump gave July 16. “Because the Commission cannot regulate that content directly, it has used its review of the Stations’ licenses as an instrument to the same end.
“If the Administration gets its way, the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government.”
The suit calls for the court to determine that the FCC’s actions amount to First Amendment retaliation and to bar the commission from further action related to the early license renewal applications and from using threats or coercion to influence ABC’s editorial decisions.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said July 22, 2026, that the agency will consider ABC’s decision to not air a speech by President Donald Trump as part of its early review of the licenses for the eight TV stations the broadcaster owns.
The FCC ordered the stations to apply for license renewals in April, at least two years before any of them were scheduled to expire, as part of investigations “for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”
Trump gave a primetime address July 16, in which he repeated his long-standing allegations that the U.S. elections in 2018 and 2020 had been “rigged and stolen” without offering evidence to support those claims. He also called out both ABC and NBC News for opting not to air the speech live, and said that they should lose their broadcast licenses as a result.
During the FCC’s Open Commission Meeting the following week, Carr said that ABC’s decision will be raised amid proceedings over whether its stations have been operating in the public interest.
“I think that when you have the president of the United States standing inside the White House delivering an important speech, I think that’s something that broadcasters should be carrying,” Carr said. “We’re going to hold all broadcasters to the public interest obligations, and we’re always looking to make sure that they’re doing exactly that.”
Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democratic commissioner, pushed back on Carr’s assertion that broadcasters have an obligation to air presidential speeches.
“The FCC has no authority to punish broadcasters for exercising their First Amendment right to choose what is newsworthy,” Gomez said. “It is not for the FCC to tell broadcasters how to make their editorial decisions or what content to place on their networks or their local broadcast stations.”
ABC filed an opposition to the reviews July 29, asserting that the proceedings are “extraordinary and unprecedented.”
“The FCC has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the Stations’ licenses. The Commission has found none,” attorneys for the broadcaster wrote. “The Commission has nonetheless pursued ABC on multiple fronts—which a bipartisan group of former FCC Commissioners has condemned as ‘an assault on free speech disguised as regulatory process.’
“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price.”
April 28, 2026 | FCC orders early license renewal applications from ABC-owned stations
The Federal Communications Commission ordered The Walt Disney Company on April 28, 2026, to apply for license renewals for all of its ABC TV stations, two years or more before licenses for any of the eight stations were scheduled to expire. The order mandated that the stations comply by May 28.
The FCC’s order cited its investigations of the stations “for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination,” indicating the order was connected to FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s probe into the company’s promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
But observers have speculated that the move was a response to President Donald Trump’s call for ABC to fire comedian Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Kimmel had joked on his April 23 telecast that first lady Melania Trump had “the glow of an expectant widow,” a remark he later explained was a reference to the age difference with the president, who turns 80 in June (she is 56).
Two days after the remark, at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attended by the president and first lady, a man armed with guns and knives ran past security and was apprehended. He was charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
Then, on April 27, Trump, who has criticized Kimmel extensively, called for the comedian’s termination on social media, saying the widow joke was “beyond the pale.” The next day, the FCC issued its order to Disney.
Carr has also criticized Kimmel, suggesting in September 2025 the FCC might take action against ABC in response to comments by Kimmel about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. ABC then suspended Kimmel’s show for six days.
In response to the April 2026 order, Disney told CBS News, “We are confident that the record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”
The Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the FCC’s order.
“The First Amendment and the FCC’s mandate do not permit the agency to use broadcast licenses as weapons to punish broadcasters for constitutionally protected content they air,” FPF’s Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said. “This is nothing but illegal jawboning intended to intimidate ABC into kissing the ring.”
March 14, 2026 | FCC chair threatens licenses of broadcasters for Iran war coverage
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on March 14, 2026, threatened broadcasters with the loss of their licenses for what he characterized as “running hoaxes and news distortions” in their accounts of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
In a social media post, Carr quoted a screenshot of a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump, in which the president alleged that The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and “other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media” want the U.S. to lose the war with Iran.
Although Trump did not mention any TV news outlets by name, Carr noted, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.” The FCC chair then added that those broadcasters “have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.”
“The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves,” he continued. “It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.”
According to the FCC, while over-the-air local broadcast television stations are subject to the agency’s jurisdiction with respect to “news distortion,” newspapers are not.
In a Truth Social post the next day, Trump said he was “thrilled” to see that Carr was looking into the licenses of “some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.”
Trump added: “They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, ‘FIRED.’”
In a March 16 statement, Anna Gomez, the FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner, noted that the agency “licenses local broadcast stations, not networks, and no licenses are up for renewal until 2028.” She added that Carr’s threats “are grounded in neither reality nor law and would not survive judicial scrutiny, just as other recent attempts by this Administration to push beyond constitutional limits have repeatedly failed in court.”
“The concern over the chilling effect of these actions, however, is very real,” she said.
\r\n
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr testifies at a House hearing in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"District of Columbia","abbreviation":"DC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["ABC","Media"],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Markwayne Mullin targets press as secretary of homeland security","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/markwayne-mullin-targets-press-as-secretary-of-homeland-security/","first_published_at":"2026-08-05T15:57:22.565000Z","last_published_at":"2026-08-26T20:44:49.613910Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-08-26T20:44:49.484563Z","date":"2026-08-18","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"Upon replacing Kristi Noem as secretary of homeland security, Markwayne Mullin joined President Donald Trump in taking steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that covered him and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting Mullin’s efforts in this regularly updated report.
Read about how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more.
This article was first published on Aug. 5, 2026.
\r\n
Aug. 18, 2026 | Media union sues DHS over changes to journalist visa rules
\r\n\nThe NewsGuild-CWA, the largest union representing media workers in the United States, joined a lawsuit on Aug. 18, 2026, against the Department of Homeland Security over new visa restrictions the agency has imposed on foreign journalists.
DHS announced July 16 that it would curtail visas for foreign journalists in the U.S., which could previously last years, to just 240 days, and those for Chinese journalists to only 90 days.
The changes were part of a broader elimination of the “duration of status” system, which allows foreign journalists, students and exchange visitors to remain in the U.S. as long as they meet eligibility requirements.
The lawsuit, filed with associations representing universities, as well as unions for education and autoworkers, alleges that the new rule was set arbitrarily and violates the Administrative Procedure Act. The plaintiffs asked for a preliminary injunction halting its implementation.
The complaint names DHS and its Secretary Markwayne Mullin, as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its acting Director David Venturella as defendants.
In announcing the suit, NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss wrote, “These rule changes are just another attempt by this administration to chill reporting done by talented journalists.”
The Department of Homeland Security announced on July 16, 2026, that it would curtail visas for foreign journalists in the U.S. to 240 days, instead of years, and those for Chinese journalists to only 90 days.
The new rule specifically eliminates the “duration of status” system, which allows foreign journalists, students and exchange visitors to remain in the United States as long as they meet eligibility requirements.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin condemned the system as outdated, asserting that it had “compromised national security and created an environment ripe for immigration fraud.”
“By implementing clear, finite limits on these visas, the United States is reclaiming its ability to properly screen, vet, and monitor individuals within our borders,” Mullin continued.
The policy change — specifically its changes to the nonimmigrant I visa for foreign journalists — was met with immediate condemnation from press freedom advocates.
“This change destroys international journalists’ ability to report from the US and makes it extremely difficult for international outlets to operate here at all,” wrote Ben Grazda, advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders. “Not only does this impose unnecessary personal, legal, and financial burdens on journalists and their outlets, but it also represents yet another sanction on the press by the Trump administration and the unaccountable Department of Homeland Security. The relentless cycle of visa renewals restricts press freedom, as journalists will feel compelled to avoid drawing the administration’s ire, lest their applications be rejected.”
Jose Zamora, Americas regional director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, called it “the behavior of a backsliding democracy.”
The rule is scheduled to go into effect Sept. 15, and China’s Foreign Ministry has already called the policy discriminatory and warned that it may take retaliatory action, The Associated Press reported.
In 2020, DHS announced 90-day restrictions on visas for Chinese journalists as part of at least eight months of escalations between the U.S. and China, with journalists in the middle. The restrictions were ultimately loosened when President Joe Biden took office.
\r\n
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies before the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":"1:26-cv-13799","case_type":"CIVIL","status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"District of Columbia","abbreviation":"DC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":["ongoing"],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["Media"],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","Donald Trump"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Five California reporters held at gunpoint at Space Force base","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/five-california-reporters-held-at-gunpoint-at-space-force-base/","first_published_at":"2026-09-11T18:57:10.226857Z","last_published_at":"2026-09-11T18:57:10.226857Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-09-11T18:57:05.405514Z","date":"2026-08-17","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Vandenberg Space Force Base","longitude":null,"latitude":null,"body":"Five reporters had weapons drawn on them and were held by security at the Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California, according to published reports, after they attempted to enter to cover an event on Aug. 17, 2026.
The journalists, invited to cover the groundbreaking of a new training center, included Jarrod Zinn of KEYT-TV, two unidentified reporters from the online outlet Noozhawk and unidentified reporters for the television station KSBY and the Santa Maria Times newspaper.
The group arrived at the base ahead of the event and lined their vehicles up in a convoy, accompanied by two uniformed officer escorts, according to KEYT-TV. Two of the press vehicles were identified by TV station decals, Noozhawk reported.
As they followed their escorts onto the base, sirens started sounding and metal barriers were put in place. Base security, with weapons raised, ordered the cars to pull over and ordered the reporters and military members to exit their vehicles with their hands in the air.
The reporters were instructed to sit on the curb for over half an hour, causing them to miss the event. The two uniformed officers were placed in handcuffs.
The base pointed to heightened security measures and miscommunication in defense of its treatment of the journalists, according to Stars and Stripes.
“Vandenberg Space Force Base is experiencing an increased number of unauthorized entry attempts,” according to a statement issued by a public affairs spokesperson for the base.
“When media entered the installation there was a breakdown in communication and movement continued prior to verification,” added the statement. “Every potential unauthorized presence must be treated as a legitimate threat until proven otherwise. While we recognize this may have been unsettling, the security of the base and its personnel is our priority.”
Noozhawk Editor-in-Chief Tom Bolton said, “This was a failure on multiple levels, and the base owes apologies to the affected journalists. The military’s response certainly was lacking.”
Five reporters, including three visible at left, were held at gunpoint and detained for over half an hour as they attempted to enter the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to cover an event on Aug. 17, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Defense"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Other Incident"],"targeted_journalists":["Jarrod Zinn (KEYT-TV)","Unidentified reporter 12 (Noozhawk)","Unidentified reporter 13 (Noozhawk)","Unidentified reporter 14 (KSBY)","Unidentified reporter 15 (Santa Maria Times)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photojournalist pushed by federal officers at immigration protest in LA","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-by-federal-officers-at-immigration-protest-in-la/","first_published_at":"2026-08-13T17:06:15.414279Z","last_published_at":"2026-08-13T17:06:45.441248Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-08-13T17:06:45.307552Z","date":"2026-08-09","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photojournalist Steven Berumen was shoved by Department of Homeland Security officers during a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 9, 2026.
The protest was held outside the city’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being confined. Regular demonstrations against immigration raids have taken place in and around LA since June 2025.
Berumen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was wearing a National Press Photographers Association badge while documenting the protest. As federal authorities left the facility, DHS officers began pushing the crowd back to clear the driveway. Berumen said federal officers deliberately pushed him, but the force was not enough to knock him down or hurt him.
“It was like a gut punch,” he said. “It felt localized to my stomach; that’s where they targeted me.”
As DHS pushed him aside, they arrested a protester standing nearby, which Berumen continued documenting.
In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 24, DHS said anyone who obstructs law enforcement or disrupts its operations would be prosecuted. It did not address its use of force against members of the press.
“We remind members of the media and the public to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots and remind journalists that covering unlawful activities in the field does come with risks,” the statement read. “Our officers take every reasonable precaution to mitigate those dangers to those exercising protected First Amendment rights.”
Federal officers push back people at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 9, 2026. Independent photographer Steven Berumen was shoved while documenting the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Steven Berumen (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Reporter confronted by police at his home in New York","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-confronted-by-police-at-his-home-in-new-york/","first_published_at":"2026-08-26T19:29:10.883383Z","last_published_at":"2026-08-26T19:29:10.883383Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-08-26T19:29:10.747219Z","date":"2026-08-02","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Malone","longitude":-74.2949,"latitude":44.84866,"body":"After JB Nicholas reported on a pickup truck that struck and seriously injured a cyclist in Malone, New York, three police officers knocked on his door just after midnight on Aug. 2, 2026, and told him to stop contacting the driver’s family.
“The family that you’re messaging, that was involved in the accident,” a police sergeant told him, according to body camera footage. “You need to not message them anymore.”
The sergeant warned Nicholas that the family would pursue charges if he continued contacting them. Nicholas replied that the family had contacted him first, asking him to take down his reporting.
As the officer turned to leave, he commented that Nicholas’ story “was nothing but a huge lie.”
Nicholas, who runs the online outlet The Free Lance News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the late-night visit followed an earlier confrontation between him and police at the nearby crash scene.
“When you put it all together, it totally looks like an attempt to bully or scare a reporter into not covering a criminal investigation literally in my own backyard,” Nicholas said.
Nicholas rushed to the site after hearing about the crash. Police told him the crash could be fatal and ordered him away from the scene, according to a video he posted on X.
“Mind your business,” one of the officers said in the video.
Nicholas replied, “I have a right to observe police activity in a public space.”
Nicholas told the Tracker that the sergeant who later came to his home also told witnesses at the scene not to speak with him and said he was not a “real journalist.” Nicholas was wearing a press credential at the time.
After police blocked him from the scene, Nicholas interviewed witnesses about the crash. One told him the driver had struck the cyclist intentionally.
After the report was published, the driver’s parents demanded Nicholas take down the story. He refused. Hours later, police went to his home.
Nicholas later defended his reporting in a video posted to The Free Lance News. “Even if I did call him, that’d be a legitimate exercise of journalism. And the police don’t have any right to interfere with it in Malone, New York, or anywhere else.”
In a Facebook comment, the Malone Police Department wrote that they received a harassment complaint from an involved party. “We made contact with you as a result of that, not because of your reports,” the department wrote, according to the video.
“These are the kind of things that should not be happening in America,” Nicholas told the Tracker. “You interfere with my reporting, you interfere with my ability to gather facts, and then show up at my door at midnight.”
A screengrab of a police officer knocking on JB Nicholas’ door in the early hours of Aug. 2, 2026, after he reported on a crash in Malone, New York.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"New York","abbreviation":"NY"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":["JB Nicholas (The Free Lance News)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth targets news outlets, leakers","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-targets-news-outlets-leakers/","first_published_at":"2026-02-17T18:03:13.887000Z","last_published_at":"2026-09-09T15:47:57.816544Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-09-09T15:47:40.117257Z","date":"2026-08-01","exact_date_unknown":true,"city":"Arlington","longitude":-77.10428,"latitude":38.88101,"body":"As the second year of President Donald Trump’s second term began, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continued taking steps to intimidate leakers and news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting Hegseth’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.
Read about Hegseth’s efforts in 2025 to chill coverage here, and how Trump’s other appointees and allies in Congress are striving to intimidate reporters, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more here.
This article was first published on Feb. 17, 2026.
\r\n
August 2026 | Pentagon carries out unprecedented polygraphing of Joint Staff in leak investigation
\r\nJuly 13, 2026 | Pentagon, DOJ launch joint task force to identify and prosecute leakers
\r\nJune 25, 2026 | Fired Stars and Stripes ombudsman sues Defense Department
\r\nJune 3, 2026 | Lawsuit alleges Pentagon is censoring military newspaper
\r\nMarch 9, 2026 | Pentagon sets increased oversight, content limits for military newspaper (updated)
\r\nJan. 15, 2026 | Defense Department announces overhaul of military newspaper, calling it ‘woke’
The Pentagon polygraphed approximately 50 members of the U.S. military’s Joint Staff in August 2026 as part of an investigation into the sources behind recent reporting on the nation’s dwindling weapons stockpiles.
The polygraph tests, first reported by The New York Times, were administered to both military officers and civilian employees of the senior military advisory body that helps the president and defense secretary make decisions about U.S. military strategy and operations. They were asked about general disclosures to the press, as well as the depletion of crucial munitions amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.
In a statement to the Times, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that the department “does not comment on internal personnel or investigative matters but takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly.”
“Securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world,” he continued.
The investigation followed not only the announcement of the Pentagon and Justice Department’s joint task force to identify and prosecute leakers, but also President Donald Trump’s post on Truth Social disputing the reports of the munition shortages.
“The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down,” he wrote. “Long term jail sentences will be sought!”
According to the Times, mass polygraphing of senior military officials is unprecedented in modern history, and appears intended not only to identify leakers but also to deter others from doing the same.
Pentagon guidelines for polygraphing employees require investigators conducting counterintelligence examinations to have interviewed the subject, reasonably believe they have relevant knowledge or involvement, pursued other investigative avenues as thoroughly as possible and determined that a polygraph is essential.
CBS News reported that none of the targeted staff members failed the polygraph.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on July 13, 2026, that he and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have created a joint task force to expedite the identification and prosecution of those leaking to the media.
In a video posted to social media, Hegseth said that the Defense Department’s Office of General Counsel had been given the authority “to request and receive all information, records and support across the department concerning media leak investigations.”
He added that all department components and personnel will be expected to prioritize the OGC’s requests.
“Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust, and those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law,” Hegseth said.
Neither the Justice Department nor Blanche made their own public announcements of the joint task force, and they did not respond to requests for comment.
The announcement came just days after the Justice Department subpoenaed multiple New York Times reporters, seeking grand jury testimony “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.”
The journalists, citing sources who only agreed to speak if kept anonymous, had reported that the Secret Service urged President Donald Trump to revert to the old Air Force One because the new, Qatari-donated aircraft lacks the same defensive countermeasures.
When asked about the subpoenas, a Justice Department spokesperson told the Times that “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”
The task force is the latest effort to root out leakers undertaken by the Pentagon under Hegseth’s leadership.
In October 2025, the department announced plans to require all employees within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff to sign nondisclosure agreements, and to subject them to random polygraph testing.
The Defense Department has also issued multiple rounds of new press restrictions — compelling journalists to pledge not to solicit unapproved information, mandating they have escorts inside the building and moving their offices into a separate annex — intended to prevent any future “unauthorized disclosure.”
Jacqueline Smith, the former ombudsman for the military news outlet Stars and Stripes, sued the Department of Defense on June 25, 2026, alleging that her firing in April was in retaliation for her criticism of the Pentagon’s new restrictions on the newspaper.
She was hired in December 2023 for a three-year term as ombudsman, a position charged by Congress with defending the outlet’s editorial independence.
But according to the complaint, Smith was fired 10 days after publishing an April 8 op-ed in Stars and Stripes that criticized the DOD and various officials within the department. Her piece took aim at their efforts to increase oversight and take over editorial decision-making at the newspaper.
Smith’s suit argues she was terminated “for telling the public the truth: That Defendants were working to undermine Stripes’ editorial independence as part of a broader effort to control and neuter the mainstream media’s ability to report on matters of national security and public interest.”
The complaint — which names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg and chief spokesman Sean Parnell — alleges First Amendment retaliation against Smith and asks the court to grant an injunction to restore her as ombudsman until the conclusion of her term.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
Smith’s suit came less than a month after two journalists on the advisory board for Stars and Stripes filed their own lawsuit against the department and the same officials. That complaint alleges that the department’s “modernization” efforts, put into effect in March, violate the paper’s First Amendment press freedom rights and federal law.
Parnell wrote on social media at the time that the DOD was aware of that case. “The lawsuit is without merit, and the Department expects to prevail,” he continued.
Two journalists who serve on the advisory board of the military news outlet Stars and Stripes filed a federal lawsuit against the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and two senior Department of Defense officials on June 3, 2026. The suit alleges that the department’s “modernization” efforts violate the paper’s First Amendment press freedom rights and federal law, and asks a judge to strike down a March 2026 memo that put the changes into effect.
In the March memo, the DOD laid out plans to expand military oversight of the newspaper, while maintaining that Stars and Stripes will continue to “operate with editorial independence.” But directives included barring the outlet from republishing wire content and shifting the outlet’s ombudsman position from an independent congressional adviser to one operating within the military chain of command.
The lawsuit was filed by Susan “Suki” Dardarian, former editor of The Minnesota Star Tribune, and Bill Church, executive editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican.
“The changes that have been forced upon Stripes are a disservice to a global military audience that has relied on this First Amendment-protected and Congressionally backed institution for generations,” Church said in a statement.
The complaint alleges that the DOD’s actions are a violation of the First Amendment, due to its restriction of “rights guaranteed to the press” and denial of readers’ access to a wide range of material, especially by interfering with editorial curation of wire content.
The suit also contends that the DOD’s memo violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it was published without notice and comment. Journalists at Stars and Stripes first learned of the memo from the DOD’s website, rather than being informed directly.
Of the suit, Dardarian said, “It was clear to us that this action was the only way to protect Stars and Stripes and preserve its mission and values at such a critical time in our nation’s history.”
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell — a defendant in the suit — said on X, “The Department of War is aware of the lawsuit filed today by two civilian members of the Stars and Stripes publisher’s advisory board challenging the Department’s modernization of Stars and Stripes. The lawsuit is without merit, and the Department expects to prevail.”
The Department of Defense laid out plans to expand oversight of military newspaper Stars and Stripes in a March 9, 2026, memo, as part of a “modernization” of the outlet that left some press freedom observers alarmed over the potential loss of independence.
The memo, sent by Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg and first reported by Stars and Stripes, outlines an “interim policy” governing the outlet that takes effect immediately.
The memo states that Stars and Stripes will continue to “operate with editorial independence.” But it prohibits the outlet’s use of wire service stories, comic strips and editorial cartoons due to the “digital availability of such content globally,” unless an exception is granted by the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.
According to the memo, the “primary justification for Stripes’ continued existence is to deliver content, specifically relevant to Service members and their families, that is not usually covered by commercial media.”
It continued, “Accordingly, there is no operational need to serve as a reprint vehicle for commercial news publications that are otherwise readily accessible.”
Jacqueline Smith, Stars and Stripes’ ombudsman who is charged by Congress with defending the outlet’s editorial independence, told the outlet that without access to wire service content, the paper would lose the ability to provide reporting on topics such as national sports and entertainment, which “contribute to the morale of troops.”
Among other changes, the memo states that the outlet “should” republish Defense Department public affairs materials — clearly labeled as such — as deemed necessary by the publisher, and requires the outlet’s ombudsman to send information previously sent directly to Congress through the department’s Legislative Affairs Office first.
It also bans reporters from making Freedom of Information Act requests in an official capacity, though it does allow for them to make submissions “in their individual capacities” when not acting on behalf of the outlet.
The policy changes came in the wake of a January social media post by Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell, in which he announced plans to overhaul Stars and Stripes and “refocus its content away from woke distractions.”
Stars and Stripes reported that its leadership and staff were not informed of the changes directly, but instead learned of them when the memo was found in a search of the Defense Department website.
Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes’ editor-in-chief, said in a statement published by the outlet, “It is unlikely that the Pentagon was aware of the extensive modernization that Stars and Stripes had already begun.”
He added, “Over the past year, the changes to our digitally produced news and information have resulted in significant increases in pageviews, engagement and subscribers.”
The Pentagon memo also states that all content must be consistent with “good order and discipline,” a phrase used in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
In an interview with NPR, Slavin expressed concern about that aspect of the policy as it applied to staff who are members of the military. “If they were to complete a story that the Defense Department did not like, and did not find ‘consistent with good order and discipline,’ would they be in legal jeopardy?” Slavin said. “We don’t know the answer to that.”
Smith, the ombudsman, told The Washington Post in an interview that the memo “threatens Stars and Stripes’ continued editorial independence, and it does so at the detriment of the troops who rely on the newspaper for complete coverage and continued accurate coverage that is not propaganda.”
Smith was later terminated without explanation, according to the Post — she told the paper’s staff she believed she was fired for publicly opposing the changes at the paper.
Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director at PEN America, said, “We are alarmed that a Pentagon memo claims to preserve the independence of Stars and Stripes while simultaneously imposing new restrictions that undermine it.”
He called on Congress to “reaffirm First Amendment protections for Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence and ensure the decades-long firewall between the Pentagon and the newsroom remains firmly intact.”
Parnell, in a March 13 statement reported by Stars and Stripes, said that the Defense Department is returning the outlet to “its original mission: an independent news source for service members stationed overseas that is by the warfighter and for the warfighter.”
The Department of Defense announced plans on Jan. 15, 2026, to take over editorial decision-making for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, in a move that jeopardizes its long-held editorial independence.
In a statement posted to social media, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended the move as “returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters.”
“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” he continued. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”
While the newspaper is partially funded by the Pentagon and its staffers are department employees, the outlet reported that it is directed to emulate the best practices of commercial news organizations and provide a free flow of “news and information to its readership without news management or censorship.”
Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin wrote in a Jan. 15 note to staff that the military deserves independent news.
“The people who risk their lives in defense of the Constitution have earned the right to the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Slavin wrote. “We will not compromise on serving them with accurate and balanced coverage, holding military officials to account when called for.”
The Daily Wire reported that department officials told the outlet that Stars and Stripes’ content will no longer be written by its civilian staff but by active-duty service members. Half the newspaper’s content will be generated by the Pentagon, including materials written by the department and images captured by combat cameras.
Stars and Stripes reported that its ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, said the changes would amount to “unnecessary control and the perception of propaganda.” The ombudsman is a congressionally mandated position tasked with ensuring the outlet’s editorial independence.
“That is public relations, not independent journalism,” she said. “The other ‘fifty percent’ of the content would hold no credibility.”
The news came the day after The Washington Post reported that applicants for positions at the newspaper were being asked, “How would you advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”
Leadership at Stars and Stripes wasn’t aware of the questions until asked about them, Smith told the Post, later confirming that they had been added by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management without notifying them.
“Asking prospective employees how they would support the administration’s policies is antithetical to Stripes’ journalistic and federally mandated mission,” Smith told the Post. “Journalistically, it’s against ethics, because reporters or any staff member — editors, photographers — should be impartial.”
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee told Stars and Stripes that any efforts to infringe on the newspaper’s editorial independence amounted to an attack on the First Amendment, with several voicing support for the newspaper. None of the Republican lawmakers contacted by Stars and Stripes responded to requests for comment.
\r\n
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to the media in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 7, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"Virginia","abbreviation":"VA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["Media","Stars and Stripes"],"tags":["Department of Defense","Donald Trump"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographer’s camera swatted by pedestrian during live shot in LA","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographers-camera-swatted-by-pedestrian-during-live-shot-in-la/","first_published_at":"2026-08-13T20:22:33.426231Z","last_published_at":"2026-08-13T20:22:33.426231Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-08-13T20:22:33.303980Z","date":"2026-07-30","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Videographer Kip Ebanks had his camera shoved by a passerby, jamming it into his face while he was filming a Newsmax report in Los Angeles, California, on July 30, 2026.
Newsmax correspondent Joe Moeller recounted the incident in a news segment, saying that he and a photographer went to the city’s Skid Row neighborhood to report on animal abuse and homelessness in the area.
“During a live shot, a homeless person actually walked up and smashed my photographer’s face with a camera,” Moeller said. A clip of the incident shows the photographer’s camera jostling, followed by a man’s hand appearing in the frame before he walks away.
Newsmax later confirmed the photographer was Ebanks. He did not return a request for comment for this story.
Above, a man shoving photographer Kip Ebanks’ camera into his face during a live shot for “The Todd Starnes Show” on Newsmax, in Los Angeles, California, on July 30, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"private individual","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Kip Ebanks (Newsmax Media)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Venezuelan journalist detained by federal immigration agents in Florida","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/venezuelan-journalist-detained-by-federal-immigration-agents-in-florida/","first_published_at":"2026-08-06T16:55:45.328000Z","last_published_at":"2026-08-19T17:30:07.775487Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-08-19T17:30:07.510288Z","date":"2026-07-26","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Miami Beach","longitude":-80.13005,"latitude":25.79065,"body":"Wilmer Solano Dávila, a Venezuelan journalist, was taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection during a traffic stop in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 26, 2026.
Solano entered the United States legally on a journalist visa in January 2015 and applied for asylum later that year, El Nuevo Herald reported. He had a valid work permit and driver’s license, a pending asylum case and an immigration court hearing scheduled for Aug. 26, according to El Nuevo Herald and an Instagram post by fellow Venezuelan journalist Sergio Novelli.
Solano’s wife, Maria Moreno, described the arrest in a GoFundMe post, writing that her husband “was taken into custody without a warrant or any criminal charges. He has no criminal record, has lived in the United States for almost 12 years, and has a pending asylum case.”
In a statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Solano had been taken into custody and said he lacked a legal status that would permit him to remain in the U.S.
“To be clear, work authorization or a pending application do NOT confer legal status in the United States,” a DHS spokesperson wrote, adding that Solano would receive due process while in removal proceedings and encouraging undocumented immigrants to voluntarily leave the country.
According to El Nuevo Herald, Solano held temporary protected status from 2021 until September 2025, when the Trump administration ended the designation for Venezuelans.
Before leaving Venezuela, Solano worked as a political reporter for the television network Globovisión from 2002 to 2008, according to Novelli. He later founded and directed Zorro Comunicaciones, where he covered political campaigns and provided communications and consulting services until April 2023, the Columbia Journalism Review reported.
Solano has previously faced violence and retaliation for his reporting in Venezuela. In 2011, Solano and a cameraman were attacked by supporters of then-President Hugo Chávez, according to Instituto Prensa y Sociedad de Venezuela, a Venezuela-based organization that promotes freedom of expression. The assailants destroyed their camera.
Solano does not appear to have been working as a journalist at the time of his arrest, and his wife did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
Solano is at least the fourth journalist — and third Latino journalist — detained by federal immigration authorities since the start of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
In 2025, Mario Guevara was deported after being detained by immigration officials while covering a protest in Georgia. Estefany Rodríguez was arrested earlier this year, after reporting on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid for Nashville Noticias in Tennessee.
A Customs and Border Protection agent’s patch in February 2026. CBP agents detained Venezuelan journalist Wilmer Solano Dávila in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 26, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"Florida","abbreviation":"FL"},"updates":["(2026-08-14 12:07:00+00:00) Venezuelan journalist released from immigration detention in Florida"],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","ICE detention"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Other Incident"],"targeted_journalists":["Wilmer Solano Dávila (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Rep. Jason Smith targets press as chair of Ways and Means Committee","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rep-jason-smith-targets-press-as-chair-of-ways-and-means-committee/","first_published_at":"2026-07-29T20:49:06.670868Z","last_published_at":"2026-07-29T20:49:06.670868Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-07-29T20:49:06.559936Z","date":"2026-07-21","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"Jason Smith, a U.S. representative for Missouri, has used his position as chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means to further President Donald Trump’s efforts to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered him and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting Smith’s efforts in this regularly updated report.
Read about how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more.
This article was first published on July 29, 2026.
The House Committee on Ways and Means, led by Rep. Jason Smith, issued a subpoena seeking documents from nonprofit outlet BreakThrough News on July 21, 2026, along with two other nonprofits.
In letters reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Smith wrote that the committee was examining the tax-exempt status of the organizations as part of an investigation into whether existing tax laws “adequately account for foreign influence and control.”
All three organizations have reportedly received funding from Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. citizen and tech financier based in Shanghai, purportedly as part of efforts to advance Chinese Communist Party interests.
The House committee first requested BreakThrough’s financial records concerning donations or contracts involving foreign nationals or foreign entities, as well as any communications with Singham, on Feb. 9.
“The Committee is disturbed by the connections between BreakThrough News and Chinese Communist Party linked organizations,” Smith wrote. “Therefore, given the Committee’s concerns, and in furtherance of the Committee’s oversight, I seek to understand why, and if, BreakThrough News deserves their tax-exempt status.”
BreakThrough refused in a response letter dated Feb. 23. The committee responded to the challenges May 4, asserting that not only does it have jurisdiction to request the documents but that doing so does not violate the news outlet’s First Amendment rights to freedom of the press, nor of free speech or association.
After BreakThrough again refused, Smith wrote in a July 21 letter that the committee would be “issuing compulsory process,” in this case a subpoena compelling production of documents and materials.
In an article published the following day, BreakThrough wrote that it was “under attack.”
“For years, Republican lawmakers have painted a target on our backs, falsely claiming that our political views and reporting are part of some foreign plot,” it wrote. “Make no mistake, this is a flagrant abuse of power, and a direct attack on our work as journalists and on the First Amendment generally.”
BreakThrough Editor-in-Chief Ben Beckler said in an email to Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, that the First Amendment was written precisely to protect journalism that the government does not approve of.
“That’s why so many of the country’s decisive free speech cases involved the abolitionist press, the radical labor press and the antiwar press,” Beckler wrote in an email to FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern. “But history looks back on these episodes for what they were — shameful violations of free speech — and that’s the same thing that’s happening here.”
\r\n
U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., in 2023.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"District of Columbia","abbreviation":"DC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["BreakThrough News"],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Wartime Pentagon goes two-plus months without media briefing","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wartime-pentagon-goes-two-plus-months-without-media-briefing/","first_published_at":"2026-07-24T17:13:41.735626Z","last_published_at":"2026-07-24T17:13:41.735626Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-07-24T17:12:36.447682Z","date":"2026-07-20","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Arlington","longitude":-77.10428,"latitude":38.88101,"body":"The Pentagon hasn’t held a news conference for 2 1/2 months, leaving renewed airstrikes with Iran and recent deaths of U.S. service members unexplained by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a CNN analysis reported on July 20, 2026.
“The public deserves transparency about the US war in Iran. But that’s not what we’re getting — not even close,” CNN’s chief media analyst Brian Stelter wrote. He noted that news briefings were held regularly during past conflicts, but under Hegseth the most recent was May 5.
“It’s all indicative of a larger effort to control information, limit access and avoid difficult questions about the war,” Stelter added.
During his tenure, Hegseth has sharply restricted press access by requiring media escorts, barring photographers from briefings and repeatedly trying to chill coverage throughout 2025 and 2026.
As official information has become increasingly scarce, Stelter pointed out that reporters have relied more heavily on anonymous sources to uncover significant developments, a practice Hegseth has sought to curb by targeting alleged leakers.
In a statement to CNN, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the U.S. government “has consistently provided comprehensive, real-time updates” on the strikes in Iran.
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have been constantly providing updates directly to the media and the American people online, delivering clear, unfiltered insight into our objectives and decisive actions,” Parnell said. “Additionally, questions from Fake News reporters do very little to inform the public at all. Their primary goal is to get clips that can be used online to promote themselves and push their preferred narrative.”
In a related development in July, the Navy denied an Associated Press request for a sailor’s biography, initially stating that it had changed its policy to restrict press access to sailors’ service histories — information that had been routinely available for decades.
The service later reversed course and walked back the statement, the outlet reported. It has since provided AP with the requested biography.
A Navy official, who spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity, said a Navy spokeswoman had misinterpreted a recently released Navy policy mandating the service remove all public-facing information about its commanding officers.
Parnell, in a lengthy post on X, wrote, in part: “There has been NO change to the Navy’s policies governing the release of service records.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holds the Pentagon’s last formal press briefing in Arlington, Virginia, on May 5, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"Virginia","abbreviation":"VA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["Media"],"tags":["Department of Defense"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Other Incident"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"NY Times reporters’ phone, text records sought by DOJ in secret subpoenas","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ny-times-reporters-phone-text-records-sought-by-doj-in-secret-subpoenas/","first_published_at":"2026-07-21T19:58:20.172000Z","last_published_at":"2026-09-03T21:37:04.725933Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-09-03T21:37:04.525354Z","date":"2026-07-16","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"New York","longitude":-74.00597,"latitude":40.71427,"body":"Phone records for multiple New York Times reporters were targeted in secretive subpoenas issued by the Department of Justice starting on July 10, 2026, as part of a rushed investigation to identify the sources leaking information to the newspaper.
The journalists had reported on July 8 and July 9 that, after taking his new Qatari-donated Air Force One on its maiden voyage to Turkey for a NATO meeting, Trump reverted to the former plane at the urging of the Secret Service because of safety concerns, including that it lacked the same defensive countermeasures.
On July 10, FBI Director Kash Patel was tapped to oversee a leak investigation into the Times’ reporting and, in a major departure from precedent, he ran the inquiry from the White House, establishing a “war room” with Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.
That evening, FBI agents served grand jury testimony subpoenas to reporters Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton and Eric Schmitt at their homes. According to a letter written by an attorney for the Times, the Justice Department also attempted but failed to serve similar subpoenas to journalists Adam Goldman and Tyler Pager.
A week later, the DOJ revealed that it had also issued multiple subpoenas to phone service providers seeking call and text records for accounts believed to be associated with the five journalists. At least three of the numbers belonged to family members of the journalists, the newspaper reported.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, attorneys for the Times wrote that while the department served “some” of the subpoenas July 10, additional requests were sent on July 14 and July 16.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to confirm the precise number of subpoenas issued or which journalists were targeted in each. At least two of the subpoenas also sought records dating back to Jan. 1, but it was not immediately clear which.
According to the DOJ, the last two subpoenas were issued after it was determined that the provider that had been served initially did not host the underlying phone number. The department also revealed that the July 16 subpoena was issued to Google along with a nondisclosure order issued by a different judge and under the false impression that the investigation was not public.
Attorneys for the Times asked the court July 18 to consider the third-party subpoenas alongside the grand jury requests in their motion to quash, arguing that they only further demonstrated the irregularity of the department’s requests.
“These actions demonstrate abuse of the grand jury process, continued bad-faith attacks on the Journalists, violations of the Department’s own internal regulations, and disregard for the law in this Circuit intended to protect critical First Amendment interests,” wrote attorney David O’Neil. “They raise pressing questions about the conduct of this purported national security investigation and confirm the absence of any regularity in the department’s use of the grand jury in this case.”
The department, in its response, argued that the investigation is ongoing, and asked that the court place a two-week hold on all of the subpoenas in order for it to pursue “particular investigative steps.”
The DOJ also said that it has asked the service providers to postpone turning over records for the time being.
A hearing on the Times’ motion to quash the subpoenas — understood to concern all of them — is scheduled for July 23.
Phone records for multiple New York Times reporters were subpoenaed by the Justice Department in July 2026 as part of an attempt to uncover their confidential sources. Above, the Times building in New York City in 2025.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":"Google","third_party_business":"telecom company","legal_order_venue":"Federal","status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"New York","abbreviation":"NY"},"updates":["(2026-07-23 22:35:00+00:00) DOJ withdraws subpoenas for NY Times reporters' records"],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["The New York Times"],"tags":["Department of Justice"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Subpoena/Legal Order"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Intruder enters ‘Today’ show studio, shouts racial slur at anchor","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/intruder-enters-today-show-studio-shouts-racial-slur-at-anchor/","first_published_at":"2026-07-22T18:43:01.587985Z","last_published_at":"2026-07-22T18:43:01.587985Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-07-22T18:43:01.455518Z","date":"2026-07-16","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"New York","longitude":-74.00597,"latitude":40.71427,"body":"NBC News anchor Craig Melvin was harassed by a man who shouted a racial slur at him after entering an unauthorized area near the “Today” show studio in New York, New York, on July 16, 2026.
The man, Andrew Truelove, who has a criminal history and several cases pending in New York, was arrested after the incident, according to NBC News.
Truelove told police he was looking for weather anchor Al Roker, WABC-TV reported. But the suspect approached Melvin instead, who then alerted security, according to a “Today” show statement.
In its statement, the show said no one was hurt during the encounter, and that it would cooperate with law enforcement.
“NBC and TODAY take the safety and security of our employees, talent, staff and guests extremely seriously,” the statement said. “We are reviewing the incident and our security protocols and remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for everyone who works at and visits our studios.”
During a broadcast on July 17, Melvin said the man was apprehended quickly, and that he was fine.
“We are just very happy that everyone is safe,” he said.
Truelove is charged with burglary as a hate crime and menacing as a hate crime.
NBC News anchor Craig Melvin, who was harassed with a racial slur by a man who entered the “Today” show studio in New York City on July 16, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"New York","abbreviation":"NY"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Other Incident"],"targeted_journalists":["Craig Melvin (NBC News)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"NY Times reporters’ phone records sought in secret DOJ subpoenas","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ny-times-reporters-phone-records-sought-in-secret-doj-subpoenas/","first_published_at":"2026-07-21T20:00:11.464000Z","last_published_at":"2026-09-03T21:39:59.974106Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-09-03T21:39:59.792054Z","date":"2026-07-14","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"New York","longitude":-74.00597,"latitude":40.71427,"body":"Phone records for multiple New York Times reporters were targeted in secretive subpoenas issued by the Department of Justice starting on July 10, 2026, as part of a rushed investigation to identify the sources leaking information to the newspaper.
The journalists had reported on July 8 and July 9 that, after taking his new Qatari-donated Air Force One on its maiden voyage to Turkey for a NATO meeting, Trump reverted to the former plane at the urging of the Secret Service because of safety concerns, including that it lacked the same defensive countermeasures.
On July 10, FBI Director Kash Patel was tapped to oversee a leak investigation into the Times’ reporting and, in a major departure from precedent, he ran the inquiry from the White House, establishing a “war room” with Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.
That evening, FBI agents served grand jury testimony subpoenas to reporters Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton and Eric Schmitt at their homes. According to a letter written by an attorney for the Times, the Justice Department also attempted but failed to serve similar subpoenas to journalists Adam Goldman and Tyler Pager.
A week later, the DOJ revealed that it had also issued multiple subpoenas to phone service providers seeking call and text records for accounts believed to be associated with the five journalists. At least three of the numbers belonged to family members of the journalists, the newspaper reported.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, attorneys for the Times wrote that while the department served “some” of the subpoenas July 10, additional requests were sent on July 14 and July 16.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to confirm the precise number of subpoenas issued or which journalists were targeted in each. At least two of the subpoenas also sought records dating back to Jan. 1, but it was not immediately clear which.
According to the DOJ, the last two subpoenas were issued after it was determined that the provider that had been served initially did not host the underlying phone number. The department also revealed that the July 16 subpoena was issued to Google along with a nondisclosure order issued by a different judge and under the false impression that the investigation was not public.
Attorneys for the Times asked the court July 18 to consider the third-party subpoenas alongside the grand jury requests in their motion to quash, arguing that they only further demonstrated the irregularity of the department’s requests.
“These actions demonstrate abuse of the grand jury process, continued bad-faith attacks on the Journalists, violations of the Department’s own internal regulations, and disregard for the law in this Circuit intended to protect critical First Amendment interests,” wrote attorney David O’Neil. “They raise pressing questions about the conduct of this purported national security investigation and confirm the absence of any regularity in the department’s use of the grand jury in this case.”
The department, in its response, argued that the investigation is ongoing, and asked that the court place a two-week hold on all of the subpoenas in order for it to pursue “particular investigative steps.”
The DOJ also said that it has asked the service providers to postpone turning over records for the time being.
A hearing on the Times’ motion to quash the subpoenas — understood to concern all of them — is scheduled for July 23.
Phone records for multiple New York Times reporters were subpoenaed by the Justice Department in July 2026 as part of an attempt to uncover their confidential sources. Above, the Times building in New York City in 2025.
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