CNN reports:

An FBI agent arrived at a crime scene and saw something suspicious: tied plastic baggies containing unknown substances resembling illegal drugs.

He would need to laboratory test the items to be sure. To do that, he would also get a warrant.

The Houston incident, following one of the latest deadly shootings by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, mirrors countless routine police encounters that happen daily across the country as officers find suspected drug paraphernalia and seek court orders to seize and test it for illegal substances.

In this instance, however, the search warrant, shielded from public view when initially filed, was inexplicably unsealed and made public the next day. Justice Department veterans told CNN they can’t remember a time when information that could be critical to a case was made publicly available while a criminal investigation was still underway.

“This is absolutely abnormal,” said Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. “This raises all sorts of red flags and all sorts of questions about why they would unseal this now.”

The move quickly set off a firestorm, with immigration rights advocates accusing DOJ of trying to malign a dead man. And some legal experts are now questioning whether the department is playing politics in an unprecedented way with a high-profile criminal investigation. [Continue reading…]