DOJ subpoenas targeting Wall Street Journal, other news outlets ‘pose a serious threat for press freedom’

On May 11, The Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors subpoenaed its journalists as part of a federal leak investigation in connection with its reporting on U.S. military action against Iran. CNN reported that other news outlets have received grand jury subpoenas in recent months as well.

“Were the Justice Department seeking to obtain journalists’ records as a starting point in its leak investigations it would pose a serious threat for press freedom and would be a sharp break with historical precedent,” said Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “That kind of intrusion into reporters’ relationships with their sources chills independent reporting on the government, and ultimately threatens the public’s access to information.”

Last year, the Justice Department revised its internal policy, known informally as the news media guidelines, governing the use of subpoenas and other legal processes directed at journalists, or journalists’ records held by third-party service providers. The changes reversed strengthened protections for journalists that were implemented under the Biden administration and gave the Justice Department greater power to use its investigative authorities to demand records from or of reporters in pursuing leak investigations.

“While the Trump administration weakened the internal Justice Department guidelines intended to protect journalists from investigative tools like this one, certain guardrails remain and are crucial to protect the public interest,” Brown added.