Justice Department Subpoenas Reddit and X in Probe of Users Who Posted Federal Officer’s Address

The Justice Department issued grand jury subpoenas to Reddit and X seeking the names, addresses and banking details of at least two users who criticized the government’s deportation efforts. S. Attorney’s Office for Washington signed the subpoenas as part of criminal investigations.

The users have not been told what offenses are under review. Their lawyers believe the inquiries may involve allegations that the accounts revealed the location of a federal officer. ” She noted that some of her client’s posts were “expletive ICE” and suspects investigators are focused on a post that appeared to reference the ICE agent who fatally shot Minnesota protester Renee Good, including where the agent lived.

Reddit notified the user in early March of an administrative summons from Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. The summons cited a law related to customs compliance. It was withdrawn two weeks after the user filed a federal court challenge.

A grand jury subpoena was issued to Reddit on March 31. Joshua Koltun, a First Amendment lawyer representing an X user, described his client’s post as a sarcastic comment about donating to the ICE officer who shot Good and included an address the user had seen elsewhere on social media. X notified the user in mid-March that it had received an administrative summons.

Koltun filed a request with a federal judge to contest it. By May the Department of Homeland Security had withdrawn the summons and the Justice Department had issued a grand jury subpoena to X. S.

Attorney’s Office for Washington who has handled cases involving alleged threats against federal officials. A federal judge is weighing the users’ requests to have the subpoenas quashed. The Justice Department previously relied on administrative summonses in similar matters but has now turned to grand jury subpoenas in at least two cases.