DOJ will withdraw subpoenas against New York Times journalists over Air Force One reporting
The move followed a judge’s criticism of the government’s legal work and came after the court said journalist subpoenas should be a last resort.
- On Thursday, the Justice Department withdrew subpoenas seeking to force three New York Times reporters to identify sources for articles about President Donald Trump's Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet.
- The subpoenas originated from investigation into reporting on a new $400 million Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet that reportedly lacked advanced security features, including antimissile capabilities, found on the older Air Force One.
- Subramanian criticized the government's 'sloppy legal work,' stating that under First Amendment protections, subpoenas served on journalists must be issued as a 'last resort' rather than a first investigative step.
- While the Justice Department argued 'reporters are not the targets,' The Times accused the government of acting in 'bad faith' by demanding phone records of one reporter's mother and two journalists' spouses.
- This retreat marks the latest instance of the Justice Department pulling back on aggressive source-protection efforts; the administration recently withdrew similar subpoenas targeting journalists for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
278 Articles
278 Articles
DOJ Withdraws NY Times Subpoenas After Judge Threatens Sanctions
The DOJ withdrew subpoenas against four New York Times journalists over their Air Force One reporting after a federal judge questioned prosecutors for nearly an hour and warned that sanctions could follow. Sean Buckley, chief counsel to U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, told a Manhattan federal courtroom Thursday that the government would pull back the subpoenas it had issued just thirteen days earlier. The move came while U.S. District Judge Arun Subr…
Meet The New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
The Trump administration announced Thursday that it would be dropping subpoenas issued to New York Times reporters over a story about Air Force One, acknowledging these could have swept up private information of reporters’ relatives. “Upon further consideration,” said Sean Buckley, Chief Counsel for the Southern District of New York, “the government is prepared unilaterally to withdraw the subpoenas.”An embarrassing court exchange came first. Di…
DOJ Withdraws NY Times Subpoenas After Judge Notices It Never Bothered To Follow The Rules For Subpoenaing Reporters
Just last week we had the story of the Trump DOJ issuing very questionable subpoenas of NY Times journalists while trying to track down who leaked information to those reporters regarding the potentially catastrophic security flaws of the "gift" 747 plane he received from Qatar. As we noted in that original post, this appeared to…
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