Last Week in Censorship: January 13-19

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The Trump administration's assault on free expression has entered a new phase of direct intimidation: criminal investigations of governors and mayors for criticizing ICE’s brutality, FBI raids on reporters' homes, and threats to sue news networks for standard editorial practices. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are resigning en masse rather than investigate the widow of an Renee Good, and attorneys general are ordering nonprofits to scrub reproductive health information from their websites. Welcome to the third week of 2026, where exercising your First Amendment rights can land you under federal investigation.

White House threatens to “sue your ass off” if CBS edits Trump interview. After President Trump’s Tuesday interview with CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt approached CBS staff with a direct threat: “He said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full. If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off,’” according to audio obtained by The New York Times. The threat follows Trump’s $16 million settlement with CBS’s parent company Paramount over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that the network edited. Legal observers had predicted that lawsuit would be dismissed due to industry norms around interview editing, but Paramount settled over concerns it could jeopardize regulatory approval for its sale to Skydance.

FBI raids Washington Post reporter’s home, seizes devices in unprecedented move. FBI agents searched the Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson Wednesday, seizing her phone, two computers and a Garmin watch as part of a leak investigation. Natanson covers the federal workforce and had received tips from over 1,000 federal workers through encrypted Signal messages about the Trump administration’s government overhaul. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said the Justice Department had “never executed a search warrant at the home of a reporter in a national security leak case” until now. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged Natanson was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor,” though courts have repeatedly upheld journalists’ rights to report on leaked documents.

Trump threatens to sue JPMorgan Chase over post-January 6 “debanking.” President Trump announced Saturday that he will sue JPMorgan Chase “over the next two weeks” for “incorrectly and inappropriately DEBANKING me after the January 6th Protest.” Trump claimed in August that JPMorgan and Bank of America “discriminated against me very badly” by closing his accounts after January 6, 2021, though the bank denies closing accounts based on political beliefs. JPMorgan spokesperson Trish Wexler said “we don’t close accounts because of political beliefs” and that “we appreciate that this Administration has moved to address political debanking and we support those efforts.” The threat comes as Trump signed an executive order in August requiring banks to ensure they don’t refuse financial services based on religious or political beliefs.

Justice Department opens criminal investigation of Minnesota governor and Minneapolis mayor. The DOJ is investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over alleged “conspiracy to impede federal immigration agents,” according to multiple sources. The investigation stems from statements the Democratic leaders made criticizing the thousands of ICE officers deployed to Minneapolis following the killing of Renee Good. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on X: “Walz and Frey- I’m focused on stopping YOU from your terrorism by whatever means necessary. This is not a threat. It’s a promise.” The probe represents a highly politicized federal criminal case based on public officials’ protected speech about government policies and state violence.

At least 11 federal prosecutors resign rather than investigate ICE victim’s widow. Six prosecutors in Minnesota and five in DOJ’s Civil Rights Division resigned after being pressured to investigate Becca Good, the widow of Renee Good, for ties to activist groups—protected First Amendment activity. Rather than examining whether the ICE agent’s actions were lawful, senior Justice Department officials pushed to investigate Good’s widow, prompting the mass resignations.

“Seditious Six” Democrats under criminal investigation for constitutional video. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has opened criminal investigations into six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video reminding military members they can refuse illegal orders under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) found out about the probe when Pirro’s office asked to interview her “because of” the 90-second video. All six lawmakers—military veterans or intelligence officers—are now under investigation after Trump called their video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Slotkin reported receiving over 1,000 threats including bomb threats at her home and requiring 24/7 Capitol Police protection.

North Dakota orders abortion fund to remove medication links from website. Attorney General Drew Wrigley issued a cease-and-desist order against Prairie Abortion Fund, ordering the Fargo nonprofit to stop linking to websites where abortion pills can be purchased without a prescription. Wrigley claimed the links violate consumer protection laws by facilitating access to “counterfeit, unapproved, untested, misbranded or misrepresented products.” The Bureau of Criminal Investigation purchased abortion pills from two businesses listed on the fund’s website, with laboratory testing finding “at least some of the tablets contained the represented content mifepristone.” North Dakota has banned virtually all abortions and requires doctors to be physically present when abortion medications are administered.

The Senate unanimously passed the DEFIANCE Act this week, landmark legislation that would allow victims of nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes to sue their creators for up to $150,000. The bill’s passage came as Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot faced international backlash for generating sexualized images of women and children, with Indonesia and Malaysia banning the service and the UK launching a formal investigation. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who sponsored the bipartisan bill with Lindsey Graham (R-SC), noted that 96% of deepfake videos are nonconsensual pornography, with such content increasing ninefold since 2019 and garnering nearly four billion views. “It’s time to give victims their day in court and the tools they need to fight back,” Durbin said. The House version is sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with strong bipartisan support, offering hope that meaningful protections for digital abuse victims could finally become law despite the broader assault on civil liberties.

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