Trump administration subpoenas phone records of NYT journalists, relatives

Some subpoenas predated Air Force One reporting by months

The New York Times, in a motion filed in federal court over the weekend and unsealed Monday, disclosed that the Justice Department served additional subpoenas seeking phone records beyond those previously known. Two of the subpoenas requested records beginning Jan. 1, 2026 — months before the Times published the articles at the center of the investigation on July 8 and 9.

The timeframe “strongly suggests that the Department is using this investigation not to focus on any purported concerns arising from the July 8 and 9 articles, but instead to forage for information about the Journalists’ source relationships more broadly,” the Times’ lawyers wrote in the letter-motion.

The additional subpoenas included a request for phone records of one reporter’s mother and two of the journalists’ spouses, the motion said. The Times noted that the mother is a mental health professional with confidential client relationships and that one spouse serves as the general counsel of a law firm.

“The disclosure of additional subpoenas for confidential newsgathering information of the Journalists is deeply concerning, revealing yet another instance of the alarming pattern of conduct detailed in the Motion to Quash,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote.

The Times’ broader motion to quash the subpoenas argues that the government’s actions “demonstrate abuse of the grand jury process, continued bad faith attacks on the Journalists, violations of the Department’s own internal regulations and disregard for the law in this Circuit intended to protect critical First Amendment interests.”

The Justice Department has said that “to be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.” The original subpoenas, delivered to reporters at their homes earlier this month, were condemned by free press advocates as an attempt to intimidate news organizations. That action followed an FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home earlier this year and the seizure of her electronic devices, part of a separate classified documents leak investigation.

The subpoenas stem from the Times’ reporting on security concerns about Trump’s newly retrofitted Air Force One jet — a gift from Qatar that the administration spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade. The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the Secret Service had urged Trump to use an older Air Force One jet for a trip to a NATO summit in Turkey because the newer jet lacked some advanced security features, including antimissile capabilities. Trump denied the security concerns on social media.

Trump’s administration has clashed with news organizations on multiple fronts since returning to office last year, employing lawsuits, administrative actions and public threats against outlets ranging from newspapers to television networks to the Voice of America. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the press’ ability to operate free of governmental restrictions.