BIDEN VOTERS POSTING THEIR L’S ONLINE: Rolling Stone is shocked to discover: DOJ Investigated Journalists for Insider Trading, Stalking … and Worse.

The Biden administration has taken pains to distance itself from Donald Trump’s treatment of the media — which the 45th president delighted in railing against as “the enemy of the people.”

And in late October, Attorney General Merrick Garland officially announced that the Department of Justice will no longer investigate members of the media for their news reporting — including for the possession of  classified information. In his remarks, Garland celebrated an independent press as “vital to the functioning of our democracy.”

On the surface, this new policy — initially published in July, 2021 — represents a sea change from the chilling tactics of the Trump era. A little-noticed DOJ report documenting federal warrants and subpoenas against reporters over the course of 2021 appears to show a cease-fire in government hostilities against acts of journalism.

But that same report also records a significant number of federal investigations against reporters for other crimes — including financial crimes, stalking, and child exploitation, according to records reviewed by Rolling Stone. In each and every case, the Justice Department asserts, “the suspected criminal conduct was wholly outside the scope” of the journalist’s “newsgathering activities.”

These contrasting facts leave skeptics with concerns: Could any of the recent criminal investigations against journalists mask payback for unwanted reporting?

Why would Rolling Stone be shocked that Obama administration retreads are hostile to Democratic party operatives with bylines? As Michael Barone noted in 2013: Obama administration cracks down on journalists more than any since Woodrow Wilson.