The Department of Justice’s attempt to prosecute a journalist blew up after its own witness’ testimony, according to a new report on Friday.
The Trump DOJ indicted journalist Georgia Fort earlier this year for a case stemming from coverage of the anti-ICE protests that interrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Minnesota. It’s the same case in which former CNN journalist Don Lemon was arrested and indicted.
According to a blog post from Marcy Wheeler of Emptywheel, the DOJ’s case against Fort has started to fall apart after grand jury transcripts revealed witness testimony. Wheeler suggested that the witness could even have been the Cities Church pastor whom the DOJ said felt threatened by Fort.
“DOJ told the jury that Fort had chanted with protestors, intimidated the Pastor, and prevented a van from leaving the church. And based on those claims, they indicted a journalist,” according to Wheeler. “A witness (possibly even the Pastor himself) testified that Fort conducted herself like a journalist, and didn’t make that witness feel threatened at all.”
The witness described Fort as “a reporter engaged in typical journalistic newsgathering activities,” according to a court filing by Fort. When asked whether he felt “physically threatened” by the journalist, the witness “quickly reiterated that he ‘didn’t feel physically threatened,’” the filing added.
“In describing the incident involving the van, the only conduct the witness described was attributed to a male,” according to Fort’s filing.
The claims about Fort that the DOJ cited to secure its indictment “directly and repeatedly conflicted with what the most relevant witness testified, as well as the available camera footage,” Wheeler noted.
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