California Democrat Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, is under fire for threatening to journalists who obtained a list of “police misconduct reports” from a FOIA request. That’s right: “merely *possessing* the documents” is what has him fired up:

This is CRAZY. Journalists were inadvertently given a list of police misconduct reports via a public records request. The California AG is now saying the journalists are breaking the law by merely *possessing* the documents and threatened legal action. https://t.co/ojnQq9xuh2 — Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) February 26, 2019

Becerra’s office isn’t backing down:

In a statement to @FreedomofPress today, California AG @XavierBecerra's office doubled down on their contention that the reporters here are breaking the law by possessing documents about police criminal convictions. We'll have a story up about it in the morning. — Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) February 27, 2019

But the statute his office referenced in his letter threatening the journos exempts journalists. It’s “literally the first line”:

It's not like the law is overly confusing or complicated. The whole text can fit in a tweet, and the reference to journalists being exempted is literally in the first line. — Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) February 28, 2019

Text here:

Here are the key points from First Amendment lawyer David Snyder: 1) The First Amendment protects journalists from civil or criminal liability for possessing documents

2) the statute @AGBecerra's office cited specifically has a carve out for journalists! https://t.co/RmNqTjGbBl pic.twitter.com/lSucrFCLmB — Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) February 28, 2019

Becerra is saying he didn’t threaten the journos, but “the Department can take legal action” certainly sounds like a threat:

Bizarre to hear @AGBecerra say he only made a "request," never "threatened any individual." If you read the letter he sent to @UCBerkeleyIRP @ucbsoj reporters, the language is clear: If you don't comply, "the Department can take legal action." That's not a threat? https://t.co/xea6bMZk44 — john temple (@jtemplejrnalist) March 1, 2019

Imagine if Attorney General William Barr did this?

This is an embarrassing display of censorship. https://t.co/48xch3jSTs — Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) February 28, 2019

Bonus: Who would have even noticed this story if Becerra hadn’t spoken up?

Congratulations to California Attorney General @AGBecerra for bringing such a huge amount of attention to a public interest document! https://t.co/3k2poPCRRj — Camille Fassett (@camfassett) February 28, 2019

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