Justice Department withdraws subpoenas targeting New York Times reporters
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A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to drop subpoenas that would have forced three New York Times journalists to reveal their sources in a grand-jury investigation related to reporting on President Trump's Air Force One jet.
The Justice Department announced on Thursday that it had withdrawn three subpoenas seeking testimony from New York Times reporters about their sources for stories on President Donald Trump’s Qatar-gifted Air Force One aircraft. The decision came after U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian questioned the legality of the subpoenas and warned that such measures should be a last resort under First Amendment protections.
"Subpoenas are the last step, not the first step, but the last step," the judge said, citing rules intended to safeguard press freedom.
The judge indicated he would have granted the newspaper’s request to dismiss the subpoenas if not for the Department’s insistence, noting that the government must demonstrate that no other sources are available before targeting journalists. He also rebuked the Department for seeking phone records of reporters’ family members, describing the approach as a reversal of established legal standards.
Justice Department spokesperson Sean Buckley described the issuance of the subpoenas as an inadvertent error, apologizing for requests that included the phone numbers of a reporter’s mother and two spouses. He said the Department had acted in good faith and would continue its investigation into alleged leaks of classified information.
The Times’ chief newsroom lawyer, David McCraw, called the court’s ruling “an important affirmation of our country’s commitment to a free press” and said the newspaper would not be deterred by the government’s tactics.
The subpoenas were linked to the newspaper’s reporting that the administration had switched to an older Air Force One plane for a NATO summit, citing unnamed sources who said the newer jet lacked certain security features. The Justice Department maintains that the subpoenas target leakers, not reporters, and asserts that it followed internal protocols before seeking judicial approval.
The hearing, held publicly, highlighted concerns that the subpoenas could expose unrelated personal information, including that of a mental-health professional and a law-firm general counsel. The judge concluded by urging the Department to avoid future incidents of serving subpoenas in a manner that could disrupt journalists’ private lives.