Key facts
- The Trump administration withdrew demands for phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times reporters.
- US District Judge Arun Subramanian criticized the Justice Department's handling of the subpoenas.
- The judge stated that subpoenas to reporters should be a last resort.
- The Justice Department acknowledged factual errors in its filings and that subpoenas inadvertently included relatives of reporters.
- The New York Times described the demands as a "brazen effort to intimidate the press."
- The FBI had previously seized devices from a Washington Post reporter.
A federal judge has compelled the Trump administration to withdraw demands for phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times reporters who investigated security concerns surrounding a jet gifted to President Trump by Qatar. US District Judge Arun Subramanian reportedly "grilled Justice Department lawyers for nearly an hour" over their handling of the subpoenas, stating that such demands should be a "last resort" and a matter of "basic compliance with the law."
During the hearing, government lawyers agreed to withdraw the subpoenas. Judge Subramanian subsequently issued an order declaring the subpoenas null and void, rendering the motions to quash moot. The New York Times had characterized the government's actions as a "brazen effort to intimidate the press."
The Justice Department acknowledged factual errors in its filings and conceded that the subpoenas had inadvertently included relatives of the reporters, such as one reporter's mother and two reporters' spouses. The department attributed this to an error made "in trying to move quickly."
In response to the judge's decision, a DOJ spokesperson stated that the judge "threatened our attorneys with sanctions" and blocked the presentation of evidence in a national security investigation. The spokesperson asserted that the investigation remains ongoing and vowed to pursue justice against those leaking classified information.
This incident follows a similar case in January where the FBI seized devices from a Washington Post reporter. A judge later ordered a halt to the FBI's search of those devices, deciding the court itself should conduct the search due to probable cause limitations.