Journalist arrested 'for asking Donald Trump's health secretary questions about domestic violence'

Jeffry Young could face up to six months in prison for his persistent quizzing on whether victims of domestic abuse could have to pay more for health insurance under proposed Trumpcare bill

A reporter was arrested and could face jail for asking Health Secretary Tom Price whether the new Trump healthcare bill will make it harder for domestic violence sufferers to obtain insurance.

Jeffry Young, a New York-based reporter from the non-profit Public News Service, was arrested by West Virginia police as he shadowed Mr Price and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, holding out a recorder as he persistently asked about claims that insurers could refuse to service abuse survivors or could charge them substantially more.

The claim that domestic violence sufferers could be shut out is based on the bill’s provision that allows states to abandon consumer protections which form part of Obamacare.

Republicans and some commentators have dismissed the suggestion that Trumpcare would treat victims of domestic violence and rape as though they have pre-existing conditions because the bill does not explicitly say so.

But under the controversial bill, which has passed through the House of Representatives and will proceed to the Senate, patients deemed at high risk of needing treatment can be charged far higher premiums for health insurance – and campaigners fear this could include those who have previously suffered domestic violence.

Before Obamacare, some insurance companies considered rape and domestic abuse pre-existing conditions, and critics of the American Healthcare Bill believe this could once again become the case.

Mr Young told the West Virginia Metro News: “At some point, I think [they] decided I was too persistent in asking this question and trying to do my job, so they arrested me.”

The reporter was later charged with “willful disruption of a governmental process”, and only released from a cell after someone from his news agency paid $5,000 (£3,900) in police bail.

A police report states that the journalist “was aggressively breaching the Secret Services agents” and “causing a disturbance” in yelling out his questions.

The reporter could face up to six months in jail under state law, although he could escape with a $100 (£78) fine if convicted.

At a press conference after his release, the reporter said: “First time I’ve ever been arrested for asking a question. First time I’ve ever heard of anybody arrested for asking a question.”

He said on Twitter: “If yelling questions at an HHS secretary were a crime, four Presidents could’ve imprisoned me. They didn’t, because it isn’t.”

Mr Price is said to have commended West Virginia police “for doing what they thought was appropriate” when he spoke the next day in New Hampshire, according to health care news site STAT.

Donald Trump has been locked in a very public war with the media since before he was sworn into office, repeatedly attacking individual reporters and branding newspapers which run critical articles or which forensically probe his dealings as “fake news”.

In an extraordinary press conference, Mr Trump rounded on BuzzFeed for publishing an unverified dossier alleging the existence of a Russian sex blackmail tape said to compromise him, also savaging a CNN reporter for covering the story.

Several journalists were arrested and charged with felony rioting in Washington DC on inauguration day, with the charges eventually being dropped.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer then barred several outlets, including the BBC and The Guardian, from attending a press conference as part of an apparent attempt to control the media.

The President has repeatedly taken to Twitter to lambaste media he dislikes while praising organisations such as Breibart and Fox News, who have given him more favourable coverage.

Mt Trump has also occasionally suggested the US should toughen up its libel laws to make it easier to sue reporters who currently enjoy first amendment protection ensuring the right to free speech.