Blanca Casa sending social network teams with the FBI in some DC arrests: report

Washington, August 18 (Reuters) – The White House has sent social media teams along with FBI agents that execute arrest orders in the capital of the nation to generate videos that promote the offensive of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, against crime in the Columbia district, according to two people informed about the matter.

The highly unusual agreement faces the norms of the Long Data Department of Justice that seek to isolate criminal investigations of political influence.

The ability of hamstrings prosecutors could to prove their cases prior to trial and raise constitutional questions about the rights of suspects to privacy in cases that involve arrests made in non -public areas, say legal experts.

The White House has played a huge role in the FBI operations since Trump announced on August 11 that he was starting a federal acquisition of the Police Department of the Columbia district and calling the National Guard to help patrol the streets. Critics have denounced their actions as an abuse of authoritarian power.

The White House published a highly produced promotional video on its X account on Thursday documented by the arrest of Sean Charles Dunn, a now employee of the Department of Justice who faces an assault position after throwing a subway sandwich into a federal agent. In the video, armed agents can be seen assaulting Dunn’s apartment and putting it on wives.

The video was taken by a social media team sent by the White House, said one of the sources, speaking anonymously to discuss personnel issues. According to X, he has received 2.4 million visits.

The social networks that filmed the arrest of Dunn remained integrated with the same FBI team throughout the night, said the source.

Reuters could not determine if the people who produced the video are employees of the White House, nor could it determine how many occasions the White House has sent people to film arrests since the operation began. The White House refused to answer those questions.

“This is not a standard application of application of the law because this is an action led by the president who considers what is necessary and appropriate under the law. Of course, the White House is involved in highlighting our successful efforts to stop the violent crime in Washington, DC,” said a White House official.

“As the most transparent administration in history, we will continue to share these efforts with the American press and people,” added the official.

FBI spokesmen declined to comment. Dunn’s lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, declined to comment on the role of the White House in the filming of the arrest, which took place on the outskirts of the Dunn residence door within what appears to be a apartment style building.

“These are influencers of the political media that are there for a single purpose, which is to document things in the most favorable way for a political agenda,” said defense lawyer Bradley Moss. “It has nothing to do with law and order.”

Constitutional questions

The White House has also parked employees within the FBI command post that supervises the federal operation that has the task of informing with arrest numbers, the two sources said.

A publication in the social networks of the drug control administration on Saturday presented Stephen Miller and the National Security Advisor of the White House, Tony Salisbury, appearing in the command post together with officials of the Department of Justice.

In recent days, the FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department have sent media consultations on arrests involving federal agents to the White House.

Legal experts said that the incrustation of social media teams that are not used by the agencies for the application of the law for film arrests could in some cases in conflict with the right to privacy of the fourth amendment of people during the execution of a criminal order.

The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that the attached federal bailiffs and local sheriffs seeking advertising for their actions violated the constitutional rights of a suspect when they invited media members to witness an arrest within the person’s house.

“It is a kind of scandalous tactic for promotional purposes, but crosses the line in terms of constitutional and ethical conduct by the police,” said Bennett Gershman, a former Prosecutor of the New York state prosecutor who teaches in the Law Faculty of the Pace University.

Kayla Bartkowski through Getty Images

The FBI has sometimes allowed the media to make trips, generally for recruitment purposes, said James Davidson, a former FBI agent who since then has formed the non -profit organization of the FBI integrity project, whose objective is to safeguard the Office of Undubious Political influence.

Both Davidson and Stacey Young, a former justice department lawyer who founded the Justice Connection group with the current and previous employee lawyer of the Department of Justice, expressed concern that the filming of arrests could undermine confidence in the FBI.

“Eroja the integrity of the FBI and the perception of impartiality, which are necessary for the office to maintain any credibility,” said Young.

(Sarah N. Lynch report in Washington; Additional Trevor Hunnicutt reports; Colleen Jenkins and Mark Porter edition)