Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth called a recent report that the Trump administration tracked reporters and activists “Kafkaesque” Thursday on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”
“I think that we’ve gone beyond the Orwellian into the Kafkaesque,” Holdsworth, senior vice president of issues management at MWWPR Public Affairs, told hosts Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on “Rising.” The author Franz Kafka wrote about bureaucratic nightmares.
“I think that this is not surprising coming from this administration who has essentially waged a war on reporters since they got into office because they feel that they’re being treated so unfairly by the mainstream media,” she continued. “Talking points aside, it’s very concerning. Reporters are there to do a job.”
“If I’m going to talk from a place of truth, and say ‘look, we should not be going after reporters,’ I’m going to say that there are other administrations that have done it, including Democratic administrations,” she said. “However that doesn’t mean that we should go ahead and investigate reporters that are down at the border. It’s ridiculous at this point, and quite frankly, a symptom of this presidency.”
NBC 7 San Diego reported on Wednesday that it had obtained documents revealing that journalists and activists who accompanied or monitored a migrant caravan last year were tracked by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and, in some instances, had alerts placed on their passports.
The list contained 10 journalists, seven of whom are American, according to the report.
Customs and Border Patrol appeared to acknowledge the list to NBC News, saying it was made up of people who were present during a violent incident that took place at the border in November and remains under investigation.
“Criminal events, such as the breach of the border wall in San Diego, involving assaults on law enforcement and a risk to public safety, are routinely monitored and investigated by authorities,” the spokesperson said.
“These activities could result in a more thorough review of those seeking entrance into our country,” the spokesperson added. “It is protocol following these incidents to collect evidence that might be needed for future legal actions and to determine if the event was orchestrated.”
— Julia Manchester
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