Defiant Don Lemon says 'the process is the punishment' after lawyers reveal feds took his phone

"Don Lemon walked out of federal court Friday and described the day's proceedings as something larger than a calendar entry on a criminal docket. Thanking supporters clustered near the courthouse entrance, the gay Black former CNN anchor turned independent journalist said the case "isn't just about me," calling the First Amendment "the bedrock of our democracy. He vowed to fight what he described as baseless charges and said he would not be intimidated."

"Inside the courtroom, Lemon's lawyers revealed a detail that gave those words a sharper edge: the Department of Homeland Security is in possession of his phone. The defense told the judge the events at issue are narrowly time-limited and said they are working to prevent the government from accessing information unrelated to the case, such as materials journalists keep on their devices to protect sources and do their work."

"That dispute is not incidental. In contemporary reporting, a phone is less a tool than an archive: years of notes, source lists, drafts, and communications that often have nothing to do with any single assignment. Lemon's attorneys argued that unfettered access risks exposing confidential sources and unrelated reporting, effectively turning a criminal case into a back-door search of a journalist's professional life."

Don Lemon left federal court asserting that the case is broader than a simple calendar entry on a criminal docket and declaring the First Amendment the bedrock of democracy. He vowed to fight what he called baseless charges and said he would not be intimidated. Lawyers revealed that the Department of Homeland Security holds Lemon's phone. The defense seeks to limit government access to information unrelated to the charged events, citing journalists' materials kept on devices to protect sources. A phone can serve as an archive of notes, source lists, drafts, and communications spanning many assignments. Unfettered access could expose confidential sources and chill future reporting. A judge previously rejected the Department of Justice's earlier attempt to charge him.

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