Blumenthal v. Mullin

A journalist’s phones were seized at the border. We went to court to get them back.

On July 10, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained journalist Max Blumenthal for approximately two and a half hours at the border upon his return from a reporting trip to Iran, questioning him about his journalism, his funding, and his travel plans. When Blumenthal declined to provide the passcodes to his two smartphones—devices containing confidential sources and years of protected newsgathering—officers seized both phones, telling him they would be “hook[ed] up to machines” to extract their data. The seizure came days after political activist Laura Loomer publicly urged the administration to arrest Blumenthal; CBP’s questioning closely mirrored her demands, and Blumenthal was treated differently from other American journalists on the same trip.

ADC filed a time-sensitive motion in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia seeking the immediate return of Blumenthal’s phones and all data obtained from them under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g). The motion argues that the warrantless seizure and continued retention of the devices violate the First and Fourth Amendments and the Privacy Protection Act, and that the circumstances raise serious concerns of unlawful viewpoint discrimination against a journalist for his protected reporting. ADC has requested an expedited hearing given the ongoing harm to Blumenthal’s work, his sources, and the freedom of the press.