WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) – The New York Times has filed a court motion to block federal grand jury subpoenas to three of its journalists over their reporting on President Donald Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, issued the subpoenas last Friday, shortly after the New York Times reported that the new Air Force One lacked some of the security features of the older aircraft. The newspaper’s reporters were ordered to appear before a grand jury panel in Manhattan federal court.
“As we set out in our motion, these subpoenas are brought in bad faith to punish The Times for its coverage,” David McCraw, senior vice president and deputy general counsel of the New York Times, said in a statement.
Several press advocacy groups have accused Trump of using government power and private lawsuits to bully and harass the news media.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday that the reporters were not targets of an investigation, but the subpoenas were aimed at identifying people who leaked sensitive national security information.
Justice Department policies place limitations on subpoenas of journalists and require that they receive top-level approval.
Motions such as McCraw’s seeking to quash a subpoena are typically under seal because of the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.
McCraw, however, has asked the court to make the motion public, saying the newspaper “believes that the public has a right to information about this case.”
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have sought to compel journalists to reveal sources when probing leaks to the press, but media advocacy groups says Trump’s Republican administration has used subpoenas and search warrants too freely, including against the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Both the National Press Club and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press criticized the subpoenas of the New York Times.
In January, press freedom groups criticized the FBI for taking the rare step of searching the home of a Washington Post reporter as part of a leak probe.
Federal judges have shown a rare willingness during the Trump administration to block subpoenas in investigations they find are politically motivated. Courts this year have quashed demands for information in probes of former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Democratic officials in Minnesota.
“We are going to court to defend our journalists’ rights to report freely on the administration and to provide the public with stories that matter,” McCraw said.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Christian Martinez, Edmund Klamann and Noeleen Walder)
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