A top investigative reporter, whose files critical of federal air marshals were seized by Homeland Security agents in a surprise raid on her home, says she's now "afraid" of the government.
"It is gut-wrenching. It really is. I'm afraid of our government. I'm ashamed of our government. I'm disappointed in their behavior in this," Audrey Hudson told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
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"Each time they come after a reporter, we just have to find creative ways to hopefully get around it and hopefully it won't have an impact on my career because I love my job."
Hudson, who has worked for Human Events and the Washington Times, wrote articles critical of air marshals and had boxes of files with the names of confidential sources.
Her home was then raided on a search warrant for a potato launcher her husband had purchased and was not supposed to have because he had been arrested years earlier on charges of resisting arrest.
"The search warrant was for a potato launcher. That was the trivial excuse to get into the house . . . It's a novelty item, just like a golf ball launcher," Hudson said.
"He no longer has it but they used that as a pretext to get into the house and then what they took without telling me were five files of mine on air marshal stories that I had written for the Washington Times that were very embarrassing to the government."
Hudson says the raid is chilling for journalists who need to protect their sources.
"Sources put a lot of faith in me to protect their identities and that's my number one priority," she said.
"I'm also concerned that people who weren't sources, just because their name might be in a file, would be identified. That's even more concerning."
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