The New York Times said that some journalists had federal law enforcement agents at their doorstep.
The New York Times (NYT) said the Department of Justice issued subpoenas to its journalists on July 10 after the publication reported on alleged security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One.
“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 senior vice president and deputy general counsel for the NYT, said in a statement on July 11.
Journalists who received the subpoenas included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt, after they published a story on July 9 stating that the Secret Service had urged Trump to use the old Air Force One to leave Turkey after the NATO summit as a security precaution.
The report, citing anonymous sources, alleged that the new Air Force One, a $400 million Boeing 747-8 luxury jet donated by the Qatari government, lacked advanced security features, including anti-missile capabilities.
McCraw defended the journalists at the New York-based media organization, adding that the public had the right to know how the government operates and spends taxpayer money.
“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,” McCraw said.
The New York Times said that the subpoenas will try to have reporters testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.”
The paper stated that the subpoenas were issued by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, whom Trump nominated to serve as the director of national intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard left the job to spend time with her husband following his cancer diagnosis.
“The Times denounced the administration’s actions,” the NYT wrote in a story about the subpoenas published on July 11.
In response to NYT’s post on X about the subpoenas, the official rapid-response account for the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it was not targeting the journalists but their sources.
“To be clear, reporters are not the targets; those leaking classified information are,” the DOJ’s rapid response X account stated.
“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.”
The department stated that it would not “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.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the security capabilities of the new Air Force One in a statement on July 9, saying that the decision to swap planes came after the president said he was at the top of the Iranian regime’s kill list.
“There are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal—including distraction and misdirection—to address those threats,” Cheung wrote in a statement on July 9.
Cheung said that the new jet is a “state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff.”
Timothy Frudd contributed to this report.
By Jacki Thrapp
