White House concerned by raid on Kansas newspaper, says freedom of press ‘core value’

The White House expressed concern Wednesday over the raid of a Kansas newspaper last week by local police as a prosecutor withdrew the search warrant used to justify the search.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody and his officers searched the newsroom of the Marion County Record on Friday, as well as the home of the owner and publisher. The officers were looking for evidence about how the paper obtained information that a local restaurateur, who applied for a liquor license, lost her driver’s license over a DUI in 2008.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a briefing that she would not get ahead of an ongoing investigation into the police search, but expressed concern over reports on the incident.

“They raise a lot of concerns and a lot of questions for us,” Jean-Pierre said. “The freedom of the press, that is a core value when we think about our democracy.”

“The president always speaks about that,” she said. “We’ll continue to reaffirm this fundamental right.”

She referred questions about the “legal aspect” of the case to the Department of Justice.

Jean-Pierre’s comments came as Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey, the local prosecutor, announced he had asked to withdraw the search warrant and that law enforcement would return computers and other devices that had been taken. Ensey said in a statement “insufficient evidence to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the items seized.”

Magistrate Judge Laura Viar had signed off on the warrant, which had been sought by Cody. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation took the lead in the investigation on Monday following intense criticism of the raid over the weekend by media law experts and press freedom advocates.

Newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer, 98, died the day after the raid. Her son, owner and publisher Eric Meyer, said she had been distressed by the raid. In her final hours, she condemned the search as “Hitler tactics.”

The Record published its first issue since the search on Wednesday. The front page headline: “Seized…but not silenced.”