The Associated Press recently discovered that a package sent between two reporters last September was illegally confiscated by the Customs Service and FBI, claiming it contained “sensitive” information. The document which prompted concern was an unclassified 1995 FBI lab report that has been made public in two open court cases. No warrant was obtained for the seizure and AP was never notified. This incident is alarming because the entire process of how and why the package was seized has been kept secret. Federal Express, Customs, and the FBI all ignored protocols established to alert people when packages are sequestered. The package was en route from Manila to Washington D.C., when it was stopped in Indianapolis for Customs inspections. Customs told AP the package was selected for routine inspection when they found the FBI report. Customs then alerted the FBI who in turn illegally acquired the package and incorrectly determined the already public document contained sensitive information that should not be made public. FedEx was unable to track the package after its arrival in Indianapolis and suggested to AP it had been lost during shipment. Although FedEx protocol requires the company to notify the customer if something is taken by Customs, this never occurred. Customs also did not notify AP, claiming that any notification was the FBI’s responsibility. The AP did not learn the package was in the FBI’s possession until they received a tip in January. It appears that the reporter receiving the package, John Solomon, might have been particularly targeted because an identical package went to AP’s United Nations office without a problem. Solomon has been the target of previous secret government investigations. In 2001, the Justice Department secretly subpoenaed Solomon’s home phone records in order to unveil a confidential source for information on an investigation of Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ). Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) stepped forward and demanded answers from the FBI and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection regarding the seizure of the AP package. A letter sent on March 19, 2003, to Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI, and Robert Bonner, Commissioner of Customs, by Grassley demanded answers for “why the package was seized and kept, why no warrant was sought or obtained, and why no notification was made to the AP.” His questioning of the agencies involved highlights the alarming nature of this unwarranted confiscation and attempt to censor the media and further promote an atmosphere of secrecy. Grassley was also very outspoken in his concern regarding freedom of the press and violation of privacy by the Justice Department in the 2001 subpoena of Solomon’s phone records.