President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both floated the idea Tuesday of targeting CNN over its reporting on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S.-led strikes on Iran last month, both proclaiming CNN’s coverage to be “illegal.”
On CNN’s coverage on ICE, the network was accused Monday of promoting an app that alerts users to nearby immigration enforcement activity, something Noem said constituted criminal behavior.
“We’re working with the Department of Justice to see if we can prosecute [CNN] for that because what they’re doing is actively encouraging people to avoid law enforcement activities, operations,” Noem said, speaking with reporters while touring Florida’s new migrant detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz."
“We’re going to actually go after them and prosecute them with the partnership with (U.S. Attorney General) Pam (Bondi) if we can because what they’re doing, we believe, is illegal.”
Trump, apparently still frustrated with the network over its coverage of the strikes on Iran, blurted out, unprompted, that CNN may also be prosecuted over its coverage of the strikes on Iran. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the strikes had “totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, though CNN and other networks soon reported on a leaked U.S. intelligence report that suggested that strikes weren’t as effective as previously thought.
“And they may be prosecuted also for having given false reports on the attack in Iran, they were giving totally false reports,” Trump said.
“It was totally obliterated, and our people have to be celebrated, not come home and say ‘what do you mean we didn’t hit the target?’ So they very well may be prosecuted for that, what they did there, we think, was totally illegal.”
Tuesday was not the first time Trump threatened to push for CNN to be prosecuted, with the president having threatened prosecution back in March after calling the network a “paid political operative” for the Democratic Party.