The FBI Is Investigating A Journalist Because Of A Joke He Made About Fake News On The Internet

The FBI is reportedly investigating Huffington Post editor Nick Baumann for joking about ripping up election ballots for Donald Trump. In a recent op-ed, Baumann elaborated on the situation and pondered why the agency was devoting its resources to investigating him.

Humor can be used as a tool to cope with an uneasy situation, so after a rather contentious election people were comforted by professional comedians, late night hosts and Twitter trolls poking fun at it all. Maybe ruffling someone’s feathers is just a poor attempt at a joke, but many found it comforting regardless. So Baumann decided to get in on the fun and sent out a tweet joking about voter fraud conspiracies:

He quickly admitted the tweet was a play on Twitter user @randygdub’s viral tweet — an absurd joke at the expense of equally absurd voter fraud claims making the rounds on conspiracy theory websites, conservative news outlets and Trump’s Twitter account. Yet Baumann didn’t expect the joke to become as popular as the original, for numerous outlets quickly lambasted him while apparently forgetting to fact-check it. He even tweeted additional followups for further clarification, but it spiraled out of control:

That’s when the FBI apparently caught wind of the story and called Baumann on November 4. He initially thought it was a joke, but the situation turned all the more real when he received a verified email from the FBI saying they were investigating his tweets. Baumann noted his confusion at the inquiry, as certain federal parameters regarding members of the press forbid “overzealous” investigations like this one from occurring.

He also claimed he wasn’t hiding his status as a journalist, or that — as he reminded his followers numerous times — the tweet was a simple lark. Baumann added he has written stories about the FBI in the past, and has always had a good relationship with his contacts there, but was still perplexed by their investigation. Even more curious was the fact that, although the agency must consult Criminal Division at least 30 days before questioning a journalist, the time between the tweet and the phone call did not reflect this.

When Baumann asked former Justice Department spokesperson Matthew Miller what he thought of the situation, the latter said he believed the FBI was jumping the gun:

“When you have to guess whether it’s incompetence or something nefarious, it’s usually best to guess incompetence… This is the type of thing you might expect from a Jeff Sessions Department of Justice [Trump’s attorney general pick], but they’re jumping the gun. It’s unbelievable.”

Between fake news sites running rampant and current FBI Director James Comey’s Hillary Clinton email mishap mere days before the election, none of this looks too good for the agency. Especially since, as Baumann concluded, the investigation is ongoing even though @randygdub’s more popular tweet didn’t result in calls and emails from the FBI.

(Via Huffington Post)