The Justice Department issued grand jury subpoenas on Friday to four New York Times reporters, ordering them to testify in Manhattan on Wednesday about stories describing security gaps in the new Air Force One. Federal agents showed up at some of the reporters’ homes to deliver the subpoenas in person, a detail that has The Times claiming amounts to government intimidation.
The four subpoenaed journalists are Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt. Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, issued the subpoenas, which offer almost nothing in the way of specifics beyond a request that the reporters testify “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.”
The two stories in question ran on consecutive days this week, both built on anonymous sourcing. Wednesday’s story claimed Trump left Turkey aboard the older Air Force One because the Secret Service urged the switch as a security precaution. Thursday’s follow-up reported that the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 lacks some of the advanced security features found on the older plane, including antimissile capabilities.
Those details describe the defensive capabilities of the aircraft that carries the president of the United States, sourced anonymously and published for anyone in the world to read, including people who wish the president harm.
“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 top newsroom lawyer for the New York Times, said in a Friday evening 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. This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.”
The Times casts the subpoenas as further evidence of a uniquely hostile administration. “Mr. Trump has long been a harsh critic of the news media,” the paper wrote. “But in his second term in office, he has moved aggressively to use the immense powers of the federal government in his efforts to attack the press.”
The article also noted that “both Democratic and Republican administrations have initiated leak investigations into the disclosure of classified information,” while adding that “subpoenas aimed at journalists are not common” and that First Amendment advocates warn they can chill newsgathering.
Historically, Justice Department leak investigations have generally focused on the government employees or contractors who disclosed classified information rather than the journalists or news organizations that published it.
When prosecutors have sought information from journalists, they usually issue subpoenas aimed at identifying sources or gathering evidence, not to punish the act of publication itself. Still, even in those cases, the press has not taken it well. For example, the Obama Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records from more than 20 AP phone lines while investigating a classified leak tied to a foiled terrorist plot. The AP called the seizure a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into its newsgathering operations, and the move drew criticism from press freedom organizations across the political spectrum. In investigating a leak involving North Korea, Obama’s Department of Justice obtained a search warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen’s emails and phone records. To obtain the warrant, an FBI affidavit described Rosen as a possible “aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator” under the Espionage Act, despite Rosen never being charged with a crime. The same administration spent years trying to compel New York Times reporter James Risen to reveal a confidential source in the prosecution of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling.
The Justice Department addressed the current controversy in a statement posted to X, and its language suggests officials anticipated exactly the reaction The Times delivered.
“Every administration has addressed the crime of leaking national security information,” the department said. “To the extent that we have to investigate breaches of national security, that’s something that we will continue to do. To be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”
The statement continued, “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. We recognize there may always be natural tension there, but we are 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.”
