DOJ Subpoenas New York Times Reporters Over Air Force One Security Story

Original article here

The Justice Department has subpoenaed four New York Times reporters, demanding they testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan next week over their coverage of security concerns tied to the new Air Force One jet gifted to the United States by Qatar, the newspaper reported.

The subpoenas name reporters Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt. The Times said federal agents delivered some of the subpoenas directly to reporters’ homes, and that the move followed a Friday meeting at the White House between FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials.

The newly retrofitted jet, which cost taxpayers roughly $400 million to upgrade, entered service last week. But President Donald Trump instead used an older Air Force One aircraft to leave a NATO summit in Turkey this week, a decision that came as tensions with Iran flared following the collapse of a ceasefire and renewed U.S. airstrikes. The Times reported, citing anonymous sources, that the Secret Service urged the switch because the newer plane lacked certain advanced security features, including antimissile systems. Trump has disputed that account, saying the stop at a Royal Air Force base in England was simply to let service members view the new aircraft. Asked whether he was aware of credible threats from Iran, Trump said, “I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list.”

The Times said an FBI official had asked the paper to hold its initial story on security grounds and pressed for its sources, a request the paper refused.

The Justice Department pushed back on characterizations that journalists themselves are the target of the investigation. “To be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are,” the department said in a statement, adding it would continue investigating unauthorized disclosures of classified information even while acknowledging “there may always be natural tension” between that duty and a free press.

The episode follows a pattern of friction between the administration and national news organizations. The department earlier this year issued, then withdrew, similar subpoenas targeting reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. In January, FBI agents searched the home of a Washington Post reporter as part of a separate leak investigation.

In April 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded a Biden-era policy shielding journalists from secret seizure of phone records during leak investigations, restoring prosecutors’ authority to pursue subpoenas, court orders and search warrants against government officials suspected of unauthorized disclosures. Bondi’s memo stated that members of the press are “presumptively entitled to advance notice” of such actions and that any subpoenas must be “narrowly drawn.”

The Justice Department has long balanced its obligation to protect classified information with respect for the press’s constitutional role, and officials say the current investigation reflects that ongoing effort to identify government employees responsible for unauthorized leaks, rather than an attempt to target journalism itself.