New York Times subpoenas over Trump’s Air Force One reporting are withdrawn
The Justice Department backed off subpoenas tied to Times reporting on security issues with Trump’s new Qatar-donated Air Force One.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
The Justice Department has moved to drop New York Times subpoenas aimed at journalists who reported on security concerns involving President Donald Trump’s new Air Force One, according to The New York Times.
The Times reported Thursday that Sean Buckley, from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, told a federal judge the government was “prepared to unilaterally withdraw the subpoenas at this time.”
The subpoenas targeted reporters who worked on stories about the aircraft, including Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton and Eric Schmitt, according to the Times. The reporting centered on a Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar’s government and later retrofitted for use as Air Force One.
At a hearing, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian signaled sharp resistance to the government’s attempt to make the journalists testify. The Associated Press reported that Subramanian said, “Subpoenas are the last step, not the first step, but the last step.”
Why were New York Times journalists subpoenaed?
The subpoenas came as the White House investigated the source of leaks tied to reporting on Trump’s new Air Force One, according to Deadline. The government also sought phone records from the reporters and from some of their relatives, Deadline reported.
The Times went to court to block the subpoenas. In its filing, the newspaper argued that the subpoenas were brought “in bad faith to punish The Times for its coverage.”
The Times also reported that phone-record subpoenas were issued to Adam Goldman and Tyler Pager, two other journalists who co-wrote the Air Force One stories.
What did the Air Force One reporting say?
The Times reports detailed security concerns about the new presidential aircraft, according to Deadline. The reporting included the plane’s lack of antimissile capabilities.
Deadline reported that Trump left a NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month aboard the older Air Force One aircraft rather than the new Qatar-donated plane.
Air Force One is the call sign used for any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the president. In common use, the name also refers to the specially outfitted presidential aircraft used for official travel.
The dispute placed the Justice Department’s leak investigation against a newsroom’s effort to protect its journalists and newsgathering. By telling the court it was prepared to withdraw the subpoenas, the government stepped back from a fight that had already drawn criticism from the judge overseeing the matter.
No further details were provided in Deadline’s report on whether the withdrawal would also end efforts to obtain phone records connected to the journalists or their relatives.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.