For President Donald Trump, this latest leak hunt is truly personal.
Last week, reporters at The New York Times received subpoenas citing “alleged violations of federal criminal law” just two days after they published a story contradicting Trump’s claims about the new Air Force One donated by Qatar.
Journalists involved in the case strongly suspect the subpoena was issued hastily in response to Trump’s anger over news coverage.
Joe Kahn, executive editor of The Times, called the subpoenas “impulsive” in a memo to staff condemning “naked attempts to intimidate individual reporters” and prevent reporting.
Court orders require reporters to testify before a grand jury about their anonymous sources, although The Times will fight to prevent that from happening.
“The law protects news gatherers from this type of retaliatory abuse of prosecutorial power,” Kahn wrote. “It is critical that the courts affirm this defense and stop this abuse. We are confident that they will do so in this case.”
While the use of subpoena power against journalists has always been highly controversial, officials in past administrations have sometimes defended it by arguing that it was used as a last resort after other investigative avenues had been exhausted.
This time, the subpoenas seem to be more of a first step. FBI Director Kash Patel was summoned to the White House for a meeting about the leak investigation on Friday, shortly before Times reporters were served with subpoenas.
Prominent First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams told CNN: “I can’t think of another conflict in which the president himself has been so personally implicated… I also can’t think of one in which there is any reason to think that the president himself was personally involved in the decision to try to force the press to reveal their sources.”
“Most tellingly,” Abrams added, “I cannot imagine a situation in which the public would have such a genuine and appropriate interest in the topic discussed in the article.”
The gift of the plane has already caused great controversy; People across the political spectrum criticized the plan to take over a luxury jet from Qatar last year, with some likening it to a “bribe.”
Trump, however, seemed eager to show off the new plane. “The President’s compressed schedule has limited modifications to the plane,” the Associated Press reported July 1, the day Trump proudly boarded his maiden flight.
“Images of the plane taken since its unveiling and reviewed by The Associated Press show that it is not equipped with at least some of the same missile detection and countermeasures systems as outgoing Cold War-era aircraft,” the report said.
Indeed, this information was obtained simply by looking at the aircraft up close.
But when Trump announced during last Wednesday’s NATO summit that he would not withdraw the Qatari-donated aircraft from Turkey, he said the change had nothing to do with security concerns.
He said the plane was being flown to England’s Mildenhall RAF base to give US troops “an opportunity to inspect the aircraft.”
Anonymous sources immediately refuted this claim. The Times’ first report was headlined: “Security measures force Trump to use old Air Force One when leaving Turkey.”
The contradiction between Trump’s statements and reliable information from government sources has made this issue even more worthy of attention.
CNN and other news outlets have published similar reports suggesting that safety concerns were in fact the reason for the plane changes.
Trump was “angry and embarrassed that it became public knowledge,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins later reported.
During Trump’s two terms in office, there were many similar episodes in which the president’s dubious claims were refuted by people in his own government.
The difference this time is that the Justice Department responded with subpoenas, and the Times immediately published the receipt of those subpoenas.
The Justice Department has said it does not prosecute reporters; he prosecutes those who divulge classified information.
But the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which advocates for newsrooms, noted that the Justice Department has a policy that prosecutors “pursue non-media leads before seeking testimony from journalists through subpoenas.”
The Justice Department has also in the past collected telephone and email records of reporters in pursuit of leakers, a practice widely condemned by press freedom groups.
The Biden administration has agreed to tighten subpoena and search warrant rules for the media.
Xochitl Hinojosa, who was a Justice Department spokeswoman in the Biden administration, wrote on X: “You can investigate and prosecute leaks of classified information within your own government without prosecuting reporters. We have done this successfully.”
But last year, the Trump administration reversed that and made it easier for investigators to obtain records and obtain statements from reporters.
Pam Bondi, then-attorney general, appeared to follow Trump’s lead as he denounced leaks and threatened jail time for journalists who refuse to reveal sources.
Disputes over subpoenas against news organizations sometimes occur in secret. But last May, the Wall Street Journal reported that several of its reporters had received court orders to testify.
The order comes after Trump asked the Justice Department to subpoena reporters over alleged leaks related to the Iran war. Trump wrote the word “Treason” in marker on top of a stack of printed articles and handed it to Bondi’s successor, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, CNN reported at the time.
The articles in question were not treasonous, but Journal and Washington Post reporters were nonetheless attacked. The Justice Department withdrew those subpoenas after a secret legal battle.
Kahn’s memo to The Times editor said five reporters have either received or “expect to receive” subpoenas related to reporting on Air Force One.
He called the reporters “consummate professionals who diligently and responsibly cover national security and the presidency.”
“The safety of the aircraft used as Air Force One, which transports not only the President but also hundreds of government officials and employees, members of Congress, journalists and invited guests, is clearly in the public interest,” Kahn said. “The stories we published were carefully reported and edited and should make us proud.”
Abrams told CNN that last week’s reporting, and now the fight over the subpoenas, highlight several important follow-up storylines: “The President’s wisdom in accepting the ‘gift’ plane: the President’s safety after deciding to accept it: and the administration’s candor in saying in general terms that the plane was safe in every way.”