U.S. Justice Dept. subpoenas N.Y. Times journalists over reports on new Air Force One

The United States Justice Department subpoenaed several New York Times reporters on Friday to testify about their reporting, the latest instance of federal officials taking the unusually aggressive step of demanding that journalists appear before grand juries.

The Times confirmed that the reporters received the subpoenas, saying that in some instances, federal agents showed up to the reporters’ homes to deliver the legal demands.

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The subpoenas were related to recent coverage of President Donald Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One plane, which the Times reported lacked some of the security features of his previous aircraft, including antimissile capabilities, a spokesperson for the paper confirmed. The Times reported that the subpoenas included the four reporters on that article.

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The Times reported that the subpoenas seek to compel the reporters to testify on Wednesday in New York.

An attorney for the Times condemned the subpoenas in a statement, saying the “brazen act” should be viewed as an effort by the Trump administration to intimidate journalists in the performance of their jobs.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” David McCraw, the Times‘s attorney, said in a statement. “Our journalists report the facts and advance the American public’s right to know how their government is operating and their taxpayer dollars are being used.”

The subpoenas mark the latest instance of the Trump administration’s forceful approach to the media as it attempts to crack down on leaks to a press corps that the White House contends has been unfair to Trump. Such complaints are voiced by virtually every administration.

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“To be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are,” the Justice Department said in a statement, stressing that it would continue to investigate what it considers breaches of national security. “We value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country, but DOJ also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information, which means not sharing classified information.”

The statement added that “we recognize there may always be natural tension there” but said the department is “not going to ignore the law and stop investigating the people who work in the administration and think it’s okay to leak classified information impacting national security.”

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In recent weeks, the Justice Department sought to force journalists from The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal to testify before a federal grand jury, although it withdrew those subpoenas last month after they were challenged by the news organizations.

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In January, the Justice Department raided a Post reporter’s home as part of a criminal investigation of a government contractor who had been charged with leaking sensitive national security information. Judges in the Eastern District of Virginia have ruled that prosecutors should not be allowed to directly sift through a phone, computers and other electronic devices that the FBI took from the Post reporter, Hannah Natanson. Instead, a magistrate judge has been reviewing data from those devices to determine what might be relevant to the government’s investigation.

The president and his allies have also sued media outlets for articles they asserted were defamatory, a highly unusual move for a sitting president.

Subpoenas to testify present professional risks for the reporters involved. Most news organizations follow strict guidelines to protect confidential sources. If they are forced to appear before a grand jury, prosecutors can ask them to identify those sources under penalty of contempt of court or obstruction of justice charges.

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The Times did not provide information beyond its statement, and it did not say whether or how it plans to challenge the subpoenas. The Times reported that the subpoenas did not contain many details and specified only that the journalists’ testimony was sought “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.”

Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, which covers Manhattan, issued the subpoenas. Trump recently nominated Clayton to serve as director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard.

According to the Times, before the journalists were set to publish their article on the reportedly deficient security features of the Qatari-donated aircraft, a senior FBI official contacted a reporter and a senior editor at the paper asking that they not publish the article. The official said the article posed a national security issue but would not explain what it was, according to the Times.

The FBI official also asked for the journalists’ sources, the Times reported. The reporter and editor at the publication refused to provide them.

Historically, it has been rare, though not unprecedented, for federal law enforcement officials to subpoena journalists for materials around their reporting, opting instead to find other ways to build cases against government employees they believe may be illegally disclosing material.

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