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This week showcased a number of Orwellian encroachments on free expression by the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security announced it would investigate a mayor-elect for the “crime” of explaining constitutional rights; the State Department is now demanding five years of social media history from tourists; Head Start programs were ordered to erase words like “disability” and “women” from funding applications, even when federal law requires using those exact terms; and when a journalist asked the Pentagon hard-hitting questions about a senior adviser, the Department of Defense responded with threats to expose the reporter’s personal life.
Pentagon coordinates with right-wing influencer to threaten journalist investigating Hegseth advisor. Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedman received threatening emails from MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec after asking the Pentagon questions about Eric Geressy, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s senior advisor who leads a team reviewing women’s role in the armed forces. Friedman had discovered a Goodreads account linked to Geressy’s email featuring explicit books about “Asian wife sharing” alongside Hegseth’s works. After Friedman sent questions to the Pentagon about this and a domestic violence charge against Geressy, Posobiec—now part of the Pentagon press corps—emailed Friedman asking if he had a “creepy fetish for Asian women,” giving him the exact same deadline Friedman had given the Pentagon. The Goodreads page disappeared the day after Friedman’s inquiry, and Friedman interpreted Posobiec’s message as an “apparent threat.”
Homeland Security threatens investigation of NYC Mayor-elect for explaining constitutional rights. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani could be “violating the Constitution” by posting a video informing migrants they can refuse ICE entry without a judicial warrant. “We’re certainly going after and looking into all of that with coordination of the Department of Justice,” Noem told Fox News, claiming Mamdani “could be violating the Constitution by giving advice on how to evade law enforcement.” Mamdani’s video simply explained that ICE cannot enter homes without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, that people have the right to remain silent, and can ask if they’re free to go—all established constitutional rights. Mamdani defended the video, saying “I can’t think of a more American thing to do than to speak about the protections that we all have under the law.” The threats echo similar DOJ investigations of six congressional Democrats who posted videos noting that military service members can refuse illegal orders.
U.S. to require tourists from visa-free countries to submit five years of social media history. The Trump administration proposed new rules requiring visitors from 42 visa waiver countries—including Britain, Australia, France, and Japan—to provide five years of social media activity to enter the U.S. A notice shows Customs and Border Protection will make social media a “mandatory data element” for Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) applications, along with ten years of email addresses, five years of phone numbers, and biometric data. Digital rights groups condemned the requirement, with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression warning it “sends the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretense, not practice.”
Head Start programs ordered to remove “disability,” “women,” “Black” from funding applications. Federal officials are requiring Head Start centers to delete nearly 200 words from funding requests or face denial, according to court documents filed December 5. The banned list includes “accessible,” “belong,” “Black,” “disability,” “female,” “minority,” “trauma,” “tribal,” and “women”—terms that appear throughout the federal Head Start Act itself. A Wisconsin program director testified under pseudonym that HHS sent back her funding application with a list titled “Words to limit or avoid in government documents,” putting her in an “impossible situation” since federal law requires programs to create “inclusive and accessible classrooms for children with disabilities.” The ban emerged through an ongoing lawsuit where Head Start programs argue the Trump administration’s DEI prohibition conflicts with statutory mandates to provide “linguistically and culturally appropriate” services and early intervention for disabled children. Disability advocates called the ban “morally repugnant and a violation of federal law,” noting many programs receive funding specifically to identify and support children with disabilities.
We want to thank you all for your support this year. We’re taking the next few weeks off and will be back in January. Wishing you a peaceful holiday season and happy new year. ✨
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