IC Oversight & Policy — 2026-08-30

DOJ Used Customs Summonses to Obtain Journalist Phone Records After Judge Ruled Privacy Protection Act Applies in Cities Church Case

BLUFDHS's use of administrative customs summonses to circumvent a federal judge's Privacy Protection Act ruling establishes a repeatable mechanism for warrantless collection of journalist records across agencies.

The Department of Homeland Security used administrative customs summonses under 19 U.S.C. § 1509 to obtain phone and social media records tied to journalists and organizations without judicial approval, according to a Guardian investigation 1. In the Cities Church case, DHS obtained six months of Minneapolis journalist Georgia Fort's phone records from T-Mobile after Magistrate Judge John Docherty had twice rejected warrant applications for her and Don Lemon's YouTube data and ruled the Privacy Protection Act applied to both 12. Google refused a similar customs summons for Fort's YouTube account data, citing the Stored Communications Act, while T-Mobile complied 13. Fort's attorneys have asked the court to impound the phone records, require certification that no copies remain, and compel advance notice before further collection 2. DHS has issued comparable summonses targeting Democracy Now, Megyn Kelly, unions and nonprofits, none of which face charges 13.

Analysis
DHS treated the Privacy Protection Act ruling as an obstacle to route around rather than comply with, using an administrative customs statute to reach the same journalist records the court had already restricted. The same tactic reaching outlets and organizations never charged with any offense points to a reusable investigative method rather than one agent's isolated decision. Sourcing rests on one primary Guardian investigative account substantially reproduced by Raw Story and MEAWW, with Emptywheel's court-filing-based reporting supplying independent corroboration rather than a second echo. DOJ may instead argue Fort's indictment invokes the Act's suspect exception, framing the summonses as lawful steps rather than deliberate evasion of Judge Docherty's rulings. Fort's request for impoundment and advance notice tests whether courts can constrain agencies that bypass warrant review entirely, with contempt exposure turning on whether DOJ can demonstrate a genuine customs purpose.

4 sources