The Department of Homeland Security defended its practice of tracking down and warning Americans who send critical emails to federal officials, arguing in court filings that such investigations are necessary tools even when the speech is constitutionally protected.

Federal Agents Track Down Email Critic

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents searched for David Streever at his Rochester, New York home, an airport, and a hotel five months after he sent a critical email to former ICE acting director Todd Lyons. The January email, written after federal immigration officials fatally shot two U.S. citizen observers in Minneapolis, compared Lyons to a Nazi official and predicted the ICE leader would be tormented by his conscience. When agents arrived at Streever’s home on June 23, they left his wife with a warning notice stating he may be violating federal law.

NPR: DHS defends investigating agency critics and giving them warning notices https://t.co/eRnzLKM3hd

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The warning notice listed federal statutes criminalizing threats against officials and stated that receipt of the notice would be considered if Streever continued involvement in criminal activities. Streever filed a First Amendment lawsuit against DHS and ICE officials, arguing the government’s actions forced him to censor himself. His attorneys from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression requested a federal judge block DHS from further intimidation or retaliation for his protected speech.

Government Justifies Controversial Practice

Federal lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office argued the case should be dismissed, claiming relief would unnecessarily inhibit the government’s investigatory powers. Their brief cited increased threats against public officials to justify in-person investigatory visits accompanied by warnings about federal law. Notably, government attorneys never claimed Streever’s email constituted an actual prosecutable threat or that he wrote anything beyond the January email triggering the investigation. The government closed its investigation into Streever at the end of June.

Adam Steinbaugh, Streever’s attorney, expressed alarm that the government effectively conceded the email was protected political speech while still defending the warning notice practice. He characterized the government’s position as fundamentally incompatible with First Amendment principles, noting they acknowledged investigating protected political speech yet claimed issuing warnings remained critical to their mission.

Constitutional Questions Raised

The case raises significant questions about how far federal agencies can go in investigating Americans for speech critical of government officials. Streever’s email called Lyons a monstrous human being and compared him to Reinhard Heydrich, a Nazi architect of the Holocaust. The message predicted Lyons would never know peace and would torment himself with shame. The government’s defense suggests federal agencies believe they maintain authority to visit and warn citizens over harsh political criticism, even when acknowledging such speech enjoys constitutional protection.