Pixiq

Carlos Miller
With a grand jury subpoena, the federal government attempted to intimidate an independent news site by ordering it turn over all personal information regarding its registered users, including IP addresses,  bank account numbers, social security numbers and credit cards numbers.

The subpoena was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Indy Media in violation of its own guidelines, which forbid the Justice Department to issue subpoenas against any member of the media without “express authorization of the attorney general.”

Attorney General Eric Holder had apparently not been informed of the subpoena, which was filed by Tim Morrison, a U.S. attorney from Indianapolis.

It is not clear why Morrison filed the subpoena against the Philadelphia news site in the first place.

The feds withdrew their subpoena after San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation stepped in to assist.

The government then attempted to cover up for itself by ordering Indy Media not to”not to disclose the existence of this request” unless authorized by the Justice Department.

Kristina Clair, who provides free server space to the site, did the complete opposite. She went public with it.

Here is the story on CBS News.