Morning Notes for November 4, 2025

By ARLnow.com
Published November 4, 2025 at 7:30AM

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Feds, Prosecutor Spar Over Investigation — “The investigation centers on Ms. Wien, 65, a retired academic who, along with others, has protested outside the home in northern Arlington where [White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen] Miller lived with his family at the time. The police say she has circulated leaflets in the neighborhood denouncing Mr. Miller and his hard-line policies, including on immigration. One of those leaflets featured Mr. Miller’s photograph and address.” [NYT]

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The Battle in Virginia Over an Activist Who Protested Stephen Miller


Stephen Miller, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff, is a driving force behind the Trump administration’s decision-making on immigration and law enforcement. Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Criminal inquiries pit the Miller family’s safety concerns against the First Amendment rights of an activist in Northern Virginia critical of the administration.

By Devlin Barrett
Reporting from Washington
Nov. 3, 2025

Federal and state criminal investigations into a Virginia woman who distributed leaflets disclosing the home address of a White House official, Stephen Miller, have prompted a secret court fight over the balance between personal safety and free speech at a time of rising political violence, recently unsealed court documents show.

The records, which were reviewed by The New York Times, reveal that a local court approved the search of a cellphone belonging to the woman as part of an investigation that included multiple local law enforcement agencies as well as the F.B.I. and Secret Service.

The activist, Barbara Wien, has not been charged with any crime, though the Virginia State Police still have her phone. The investigation remains active, leaving it unclear whether law enforcement has since gathered additional evidence.

The dispute captures the fierce tensions over political activism that have become a defining feature of the second Trump presidency, pitting the Miller family’s concerns for their security against the First Amendment claims of a critic of the administration.

In an atmosphere in which political violence against Republicans and Democrats has become more common, administration officials have increasingly voiced worries about their security, citing in particular the assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and two attempts in 2024 to kill Donald J. Trump.

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People
How to Make Peace, Not War

It starts with listening, says peace educator Barbara Wien.

By Madelyn Rosenberg
December 26, 2018

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