Trump, Noem suggest CNN may be prosecuted for reporting on ICE raids, Iran strikes

President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that CNN employees may be prosecuted for reporting on recent airstrikes on Iran and on an app that allows people to track immigration enforcement actions.

“We’re working with the Department of Justice to see if we can prosecute them for that. Because what they’re doing is actively encouraging people to avoid law enforcement activities, operations,” Noem said during a tour of the “Alligator Alcatraz” deportation camp in the Everglades.

“And we’re going to ask them to go after them, to prosecute them … because what they’re doing is illegal,” she said.

Trump interjected: “They may be prosecuted also for false reports on the attacks on Iran … They may be very well prosecuted for that.”

It’s unclear what crimes CNN journalists allegedly committed with the reporting.

The outlet’s Monday article on the app ICEBlock describes how users can relay sightings of immigration officials — akin to better-known apps that allow users to report locations of speed traps and other police tactics.

Trump has fumed at CNN over its reporting on a “top secret” preliminary assessment of damage to three Iranian nuclear sites following US airstrikes for minimizing the impact.

Journalists can legally report on classified material, but soliciting the material or instructing sources on how to retrieve it has opened the door to federal investigation and punishment.