Journalist Seth Harp was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee last week after Representative Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, accused the writer of “doxxing.” the commander of Delta Force and “leaked classified information.” Luna has even turned the crime over to the Department of Justice. The incident sparked a debate online about the meaning of “doxxing,” a term Luna did not seem to understand.
In fairness, Luna isn’t the only one confused about the meaning of doxxing. The US Department of Homeland Security keeps insisting that ICE operatives “get angry” when undercover federal agents are identified as they raid the country, rounding up anyone who isn’t white.
The day after the US government kidnapped Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Harp shared a photo and an online biography of the US military chief. UX immediately closed his account and demanded that he delete his tweet in return, according to Harp. Luna issued a subpoena to compel Harp to testify about the incident, which press freedom groups said was an attempt to intimidate journalists who publish information about the Trump administration.
“I have made a motion to call Seth Harp before Congress to face accountability for the Intel leaks regarding Operation Absolute Resolve, including the firing of the Delta Force commander,” Rep. Luna tweeted on Jan. 7. “The media has been successful for too long, and I’m sick of it. Bring him in.”
Gizmodo reached out to Harp, the author of the 2025 book The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forceswho explained the situation.
“It’s not ‘doxxing’ to name government officials involved in news events,” Harp told Gizmodo. “Doxxing essentially publishes a person’s personal information that is not public, such as their social security number, home address, home phone number, personal email, names of their family members, or photos of their home.”
The hub admits that “true doxxing can be a crime,” depending on the circumstances.
“For example, 18 USC s. 119 makes it a crime to publish restricted personal information about certain government officials, informants, and witnesses with the intent to promote a crime of violence against them. There are also state laws against doxxing,” Harp continued.
The information shared by Harp does not focus on any conventional definition of liberal democracy. Harp believes that the use of Rep. Luna that word actually encourages actual doxxing behavior against a journalist.
“It was irresponsible of Rep. Luna to throw allegations of ‘doxxing’ into her damning accusation against me, when all I was doing was naming a high-ranking military officer at the center of the news, which is inherently important information that the public has a right to know,” Harp wrote. “The strange thing is that his hate speech has inspired many people on the Internet to forgive me, by publishing my address, phone number, pictures of my house, my parents’ names, and pictures of their house, as well as threats of violence.”
Privacy standards change with each generation, but there was a time when a portable phone book was brought to every house in a community. The phone book had all the phone numbers and addresses of those people. But Harp did not share any information, such as an address or phone number. He shared the details of people’s lives that were listed on a public website. And simply sharing the identity of a senior member of the military is not doxxing.
Right wingers don’t seem to understand the meaning of doxxing in the current environment. Gizmodo reached out to the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 8, the day after Renee Good was killed in Minneapolis by an ICE agent. We asked for confirmation that the agent involved is Jonathan Ross, a simple fact first reported by the Star Tribune that we wanted to confirm. DHS said verifying your identity would be doxxing.
“We will not release this officer’s name. He acted according to his training,” DHS said in a statement, explaining that he is “a longtime ICE officer who has served his country his entire life.”
The email also described him as an ICE deportation officer with 10 years of experience and included a long list of requirements he must meet to get the ICE Special Response Team. Ironically, that long description was never used to identify him in the first place. Local media reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s description of a previous incident with Ross in June, in which she was dragged by a car, may have been what allowed the Star Tribune to identify her in court documents.
DHS continued to insist that the naming of the agent is an act of deception, while saying that its officials are at risk:
DHS will never confirm or deny enforcement efforts. Doxxing our officers is putting their lives and their families in grave danger. Our police are at the forefront of arresting terrorists, gang members, murderers, molesters and rapists. Now, because of the brutal rhetoric of politicians in the holy places, they are under constant threat from violent agitators. They experienced a 1,300% increase in attacks on them, a 3,200% increase in attacks on their vehicles, and an 8,000% increase in threats against them. Revealing who they are puts their lives and the lives of their families at great risk. The Star Tribune should be totally ashamed of themselves for their reckless behavior, and they should immediately remove their story.”
But is it sad to just point out a federal agent who supposedly killed someone? Ross is involved in an event that has not only national attention but international significance. The whole world is on edge over America’s slide into fascism, not to mention Trump’s threats to attack allies like Greenland, Canada, and Panama.
People magazine has reported that Ross lived in the suburbs of Chaska, Minnesota, but even that isn’t exactly a hoax. If journalists couldn’t explain basic biographical information in news stories, it would be impossible to report anything accurately. There is no law that makes it a crime to identify the city where an ICE agent lives.
Ross reportedly told his neighbor in Chaska that he worked as a botanist, a lie that appeared to indicate he was afraid of being convicted of working as a member of the undercover police force. And that’s not surprising. ICE and other sister agencies, like CBP and Border Patrol, are acting outside the law to harm Americans right now. It is very important that we at least have their names so they can answer one day.
“The public has a right to know the names of government officials who work for us,” Harp told Gizmodo. “That is part of the basic accountability in an open society governed by the rule of law.”
