DOJ Withdraws New York Times Reporter Subpoenas After Judge Challenges Legal Basis
The Justice Department withdrew subpoenas issued to three New York Times reporters after a federal judge questioned whether the government had followed the legal rules meant to protect journalists from being forced to reveal sources.
The subpoenas were tied to Times reporting on security concerns involving President Trump’s Qatari gifted Air Force One jet. At a hearing in New York, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said subpoenas to journalists should come only after the government has exhausted other options. He said he would have granted the Times’ request to block the subpoenas if DOJ had not withdrawn them.
The court fight also exposed procedural mistakes. A DOJ lawyer acknowledged errors involving phone records sought for numbers connected to a reporter’s mother and two journalists’ spouses. DOJ said the mistakes were inadvertent and defended the broader investigation as a national security matter involving leaks of classified information.
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The reaction moved quickly beyond the courtroom. The Committee to Protect Journalists had demanded that the subpoenas be withdrawn, warning they could chill reporting across the country. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said the withdrawal showed the government’s effort had reached a dead end in court.
The New York Times also treated the withdrawal as a press freedom victory. David McCraw, the paper’s chief newsroom lawyer, said the subpoenas should not have been issued and said the paper would not be deterred.
The immediate legal effect is that the reporters will not be compelled to testify under the withdrawn subpoenas. The larger dispute is not over. DOJ said the leak investigation remains ongoing, meaning the fight over how far prosecutors can go in pursuing journalists’ source information could return.
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