Four New York Times journalists ordered to testify before federal grand jury

Subpoenas delivered to reporters’ homes demand grand jury testimony

The Justice Department subpoenaed four New York Times journalists on Friday to testify before a federal grand jury about the newspaper’s reporting on security concerns involving President Donald Trump’s new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, the newspaper reported.

Federal agents delivered the subpoenas, which demand the journalists appear before a grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday, to some of the reporters at their homes, the Times said.

The journalists who received subpoenas are Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt, according to the newspaper. The subpoenas state that their testimony is required “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law,” the Times reported.

David McCraw, the Times’s top newsroom lawyer, said in a 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 Constitution and the press freedom it protects.”

The New York Times sued the Pentagon for the second time in five months in May, arguing that a requirement that reporters be escorted while on Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment, as MSI previously reported.

The Times reported Wednesday that Trump flew to a NATO summit in Turkey on the new Air Force One but left the summit on an older plane on the advice of the Secret Service. The next day, citing unnamed sources, the Times reported that security officials were concerned the new plane did not have advanced security features, including antimissile capabilities.

Trump denied that security concerns factored into the decision to switch planes. “I have a threat all the time,” Trump told reporters. “I’m number one on their list.”

The Justice Department said in a statement to the BBC that it is investigating illegal leaks of classified national security information. “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 said.

White House spokesperson Steven Cheung denied that the new Air Force One has any security shortcomings, calling it “state-of-the-art” and saying it “has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff.”

The National Press Club, based in Washington, D.C., called on the Justice Department to withdraw the subpoenas. “The 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 said in a statement. Press freedom advocates said the subpoenas threaten the First Amendment protections that underpin independent reporting.