Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists over new Air Force One reporting
The US Justice Department has subpoenaed several New York Times journalists to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan after the newspaper reported on security flaws in the new Air Force One jet, a $400 million gift from Qatar.
The Trump administration has issued subpoenas to several New York Times journalists after the newspaper reported on security concerns with the president’s new plane, according to the outlet. The Times said its journalists were subpoenaed on Friday by the US Justice Department to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan five days later, marking the latest effort by the Trump administration to compel testimony from journalists under threat of penalty. Agents delivered some of the subpoenas to the Times reporters at their homes, the paper added. US Justice Department spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday about the subpoenas.
Press freedom advocates expressed consternation over the subpoenas. A statement from the Washington DC-based National Press Club said federal prosecutors’ “decision to subpoena journalists at the New York Times should alarm every American because it threatens the public’s constitutional right to an independent press.” The organization called on the Justice Department to immediately withdraw the subpoenas. Times lawyer David McCraw said in his own statement that “the appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the U.S. constitution and the press freedom it protects.”
The airplane at the center of the Times report was provided by Qatar as a $400 million gift. It took Donald Trump to North Dakota on its July 1 maiden voyage, and more recently flew the president to a NATO summit in Turkey. Trump then flew part of the way back to the US on an older-model Air Force One presidential jet, amid the collapse of a ceasefire with Iran. The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the new Air Force One lacked antimissile capabilities as well as other protective features that older models are equipped with, and that Trump flew part of the return trip on an older plane at the request of the Secret Service.
Trump subsequently denied any security concerns, telling reporters that no safeguard-related worries factored into the decision. The White House also denied that the new Air Force One had any shortcomings in terms of security, calling it “state-of-the-art.” Among the Times journalists who received subpoenas were Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt. Previously, the Justice Department had similarly subpoenaed journalists from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post but withdrew those subpoenas after the outlets contested them. Other instances of the Trump administration targeting news organizations include pursuing criminal charges against journalists Don Lemon, Georgia Fort, and photographer Junn Bollman for covering a protest, and a federal grand jury indictment of a military contractor for leaking classified documents that led to an FBI raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home.
