Judge Rejects Search Warrants Targeting Don Lemon’s YouTube Subscribers

On Jan. 18 2026, a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown disrupted a service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. The church’s pastor, David Easterwood, also supervised the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office. Federal prosecutors later indicted 39 individuals—including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, independent journalist Georgia Fort, photographer Junn Bollmann, and several activists—on charges ranging from conspiracy to interfere with religious freedom to civil-rights violations.

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• Don Lemon – former CNN anchor, host of “The Don Lemon Show” on YouTube.

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• Georgia Fort – independent journalist charged alongside Lemon.

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• Junn Bollmann – photographer facing a separate indictment.

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• Timothy Gerber – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent who drafted the warrant applications.

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• John F. Docherty – U.S. magistrate judge who reviewed and denied the applications.

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• Freedom of the Press Foundation – advocacy group commenting on the case.

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• Feb 24, 2026 – Judge Docherty denies two of Gerber’s initial warrant applications, citing lack of probable cause.

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• Mar 6, 2026 – Gerber submits three revised applications focusing on YouTube data for Lemon, Fort, and Ian Kelly.

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• Mar 6–26, 2026 – Judge Docherty raises concerns about subscriber data, the Privacy Protection Act, and procedural deficiencies.

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• Mar 26, 2026 – The government withdraws all five warrant applications, acknowledging limited evidentiary value.

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The judge found that none of the applications “establish probable cause to believe that evidence of a crime will be found” in the targeted data. He emphasized that a warrant must be “self-contained” and not require the court to consult external documents. The applications sought comprehensive subscriber information—including names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, and IP addresses—without explaining how such data would prove criminal conduct. The judge also noted potential violations of the Privacy Protection Act, which shields “work product” and “documentary materials” of the press from seizure, and questioned whether the government had followed internal DOJ procedures for obtaining press-related materials.

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Judge Docherty’s orders repeatedly stressed the absence of factual connections between the defendants’ online activities and the alleged crimes, and warned that the breadth of the requests exceeded constitutional limits. The Department of Justice, in a May 15 brief, conceded that “other options were available” and that the sought data had “limited value,” leading to the withdrawal of the warrants. The Freedom of the Press Foundation, through senior adviser Caitlin Vogus, criticized the effort as an overreach that threatens journalistic independence.

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Vogus argued that the failed warrants illustrate “incompetent prosecutors pursuing political vendettas instead of justice.” Legal analysts highlighted the case as a test of the balance between law-enforcement objectives and First-Amendment protections for journalists and their audiences.

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• “None of the five applications establish probable cause to believe that evidence of a crime will be found in the places to be searched,” — John F. Docherty, U.S. magistrate judge

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• “There is no attempt made to explain why the compilation by the government of a comprehensive index of subscribers to ‘The Don Lemon Show’ is evidence that a crime was committed,” — Judge Docherty

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• “ He added that "the Court will benefit from adversarial briefing and argument on these issues.” — Judge Docherty

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• “These failed search warrants are what happens when incompetent prosecutors pursue political vendettas instead of justice," says Caitlin Vogus, senior advocacy adviser at the Freedom of the Press Foundation.” — Caitlin Vogus, Freedom of the Press Foundation

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• “That this information may be seized only to determine ‘events relating to the crime under investigation and to the Account owner’ is little comfort, since subscriber information is not needed to prove or disprove the commission of a crime—indeed, it is hard to see how such information could be relevant evidence of the commission of a crime. There is no probable cause set out in the search warrant application.” — Judge Docherty

Daily Beast

The defendants remain under indictment, and their attorneys have sought the unsealing of grand-jury transcripts. The government’s withdrawal of the warrants may prompt a reassessment of the broader case strategy, while advocacy groups are expected to monitor any future attempts to obtain press-related data.

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