Federal workers sue over sting operations by political provocateur James O’Keefe : NPR

Brandon Wright was fresh off a brutal divorce when he joined a dating app in Washington. A woman who called herself Heidi caught his attention right away.

“The very first thing she asked me when she connected, she said, ‘So you’re like the James Bond of IT?'”

Actually, Wright was a rank-and-file tech worker at the Department of Homeland Security. He’d been a public servant for eight years, through administrations led by both Republicans and Democrats.

That seemingly innocuous contact marked the start of a process that would leave Wright without a job. He’s one of many federal workers and contractors to be ensnared in legal challenges that test the boundaries of the First Amendment.

Wright tried to be careful. He set up a video call with Heidi to make sure he wasn’t being catfished. Turned out, he and Heidi had some common interests. Not long after, they met in person, at a restaurant Heidi chose.

“And as things went on, as we continued to sip cocktails, she kept steering the conversation back to politics,” Wright said. “That’s not weird in D.C. In fact, talking politics is called a date in Washington D.C.”

Then, Heidi excused herself, and when she returned, Wright said she moved her phone camera in a way that faced him.

“She sat down and immediately began asking me about, ‘So is there anything else you want to tell me about your political views?’ And at that moment my body started going, ‘Something’s wrong.'”

Something was wrong. Wright was on tape saying Kristi Noem, who at the time was President Trump’s nominee to lead the Homeland Security Department, was not a smart person. He added that the heads of Cabinet agencies set priorities, but they don’t have the time or inclination to personally direct career employees.

A week later, the threats began.

“I got people sending me texts with geolocation of my ex-wife’s house, where my children spend half of their time, threatening me saying, ‘I hope you can talk to Kristi Noem as well as you can talk to a honeypot,'” Wright recalled.

The activist James O’Keefe, known for undercover stunts, had posted a recording of Wright’s date — part of a series he calls “Dating the Deep State.” That video has been viewed more than 2.5 million times.

Wright’s boss put him on administrative leave and later fired him. Now, Wright is suing the DHS for violating his rights to free speech and due process. DHS didn’t respond to requests for comment.

“You still have First Amendment rights when you work for the government,” said Wright’s lawyer, Mark Zaid. “You can still have your own private opinions. You can have your own private beliefs and conduct.”

Zaid, a longtime lawyer for whistleblowers and national security figures, is fighting his own legal battle — after Trump yanked his security clearance last year. Zaid won a preliminary injunction, but the Justice Department is appealing.

In his busy law practice, Zaid has been following undercover operations that target federal workers and contractors. He said they’re not public figures or well-known people. Few of them have sued, mostly because Zaid thinks they haven’t been able to find lawyers.

“We want this practice to stop,” Zaid said. “It’s unfair, slimy, sleazy.”

O’Keefe shows no signs of stopping. He recently posted more undercover videos that feature people who work at the Secret Service and the FBI.

His lawyer, Benjamin Barr, said O’Keefe and the women working with him are reporters.

“I think James consistently refers to himself as a muckraker and in that proud tradition, sort of an activist journalist,” Barr said. “I see him as an independent journalist.”

Barr said the videos he’s seen show bureaucrats trying to pump the brakes on Trump’s policies or to block his agenda. And that, he said, is newsworthy.

“Even if you don’t buy that, I think the act of their very willingness to share political opinions and information about their government jobs to someone they barely know is an item of newsworthiness,” Barr said.

If Wright and some of the other men who lost their jobs suffered financial and reputational harm, Barr said they were hurt by the words that came out of their own mouths.

“The individuals in any of these cases need to point to an identifiable, concrete legal wrong,” Barr said.

The men ensnared in these honeypot stings are testing lots of different legal theories, sometimes arguing the women who do the recording engaged in fraud by pretending to be liberal young professionals interested in learning about politics.

Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the free speech group known as FIRE, doesn’t think that argument will fly in court.

“Now fraud in the legal sense means lying to obtain something of tangible value like money or property from the person you’re deceiving,” Terr said.

Heidi is a pseudonym. Her real name is under court seal and she’s fighting to stay anonymous to protect her safety and privacy, according to court papers.

“People can have a debate about whether these sorts of operations are ethical or they’re morally wrong but as a general matter the First Amendment strongly protects gathering and publishing information on matters of public concern,” Terr said.

Investigative journalism sometimes involves lying or deception, Terr said, though many news organizations have ethics and standards policies to guide such practices.

“Now imagine if Upton Sinclair said during his job interview, ‘So my goal is to investigate and write an expose about unfair labor practices and unsanitary conditions at your meat packing plant,'” Terr said. “That wouldn’t have gone over so well.”

That may be one reason why Brandon Wright and other men captured on video are suing their government agencies — and not O’Keefe. Federal workers do have free speech rights, which Terr says judges may balance against employers’ interest in running an efficient workplace.

The cases are likely to continue in court for months, or longer.

As for Wright, he’s trying to move on. One bright spot: He’s now engaged.

O’Keefe did not respond to a request for comment. Barr, his lawyer, said O’Keefe is busy pursuing other exposes — some of which involve older men meeting with younger women.

“James has joked, I mean if you’re 40 or 50 and a 9 or a 10 who’s 20 years old shows up at an event and is interested in you,” Barr said, “she’s probably with James O’Keefe.”