Is it illegal to trick the US government into wiping your phone during a questionably legal search?

Georgia activist Samuel Tunick was charged after CBP agents allegedly searched his phone at the border and prosecutors say he wiped it using a GrapheneOS duress password.

His lawyers say the search was a pretext tied to his activism and argue border-device search rules are legally unsettled across U.S. courts.

The case raises broader Fourth and Fifth Amendment concerns about warrantless phone searches, self-incrimination, and coercive tactics at ports of entry.