The U.S. Department of Justice withdrew subpoenas against three journalists employed by The New York Times on Thursday following a federal court hearing in which Judge Arun Subramanian expressed disapproval of the government’s legal methods. The subpoenas had sought to compel the reporters to testify about their sources for articles concerning a Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet that underwent a $400 million retrofit and upgrade process.
During the hearing, Judge Subramanian stated that subpoenas targeting journalists must represent a final investigative resort rather than an initial step, citing regulations designed to protect First Amendment press freedoms. The judge indicated he would have ruled in the newspaper’s favor on its motion to reject the subpoenas, citing the government’s failure to demonstrate it had exhausted alternative investigative avenues. Subramanian remarked that the government’s approach had inverted the legal standard governing journalist subpoenas and suggested sanctions might be warranted in a civil context.
The Times had challenged the validity of grand jury subpoenas along with additional requests for phone records belonging to the journalists and certain family members, including one reporter’s mother and two journalists’ spouses. The newspaper argued in court filings that the scope and timing of the records requests, which sought information dating back to January 1 and predating publication of the articles, suggested an attempt to investigate the journalists’ source relationships more broadly rather than pursuing a specific leak investigation. The Times also contended the government had acted in bad faith by not providing advance notice and proceeding without substantial preliminary investigation.
The Justice Department had justified the subpoenas by stating that reporters themselves were not investigative targets and that the focus remained on individuals allegedly responsible for disclosing classified material. The withdrawal follows similar actions in which the department withdrew subpoenas against journalists employed by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. The proceedings occurred publicly despite Trump administration efforts to maintain confidentiality regarding the litigation.
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