Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists over Air Force One story, newspaper says
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US President Donald Trump returning to Joint Base Andrews on July 9, in Washington, DC, after flying back from the UK aboard the new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
PHOTO: AFP
- The US Department of Justice subpoenaed New York Times journalists to testify before a grand jury about security concerns involving President Trump's new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
- The subpoenas were delivered by federal agents, viewed by the newspaper as an attempt to intimidate independent media.
- The Justice Department denied targeting reporters, focusing instead on leaks of classified information amid Trump's use of the new and older Air Force One planes.
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WASHINGTON - The New York Times said on July 11 that the US Department of Justice had ordered several of its journalists to testify before a federal grand jury after they reported on security concerns involving President Donald Trump's new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
The media organisation said subpoenas were issued on July 10, asking that the journalists appear before a grand jury on July 15 to testify “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law”.
The subpoenas were issued by Jay Clayton, the US Attorney in Manhattan, and in some cases delivered to reporters’ homes by federal agents, the news outlet reported.
It described the move as “an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organisations”.
In a statement to Reuters, a Department of Justice spokesperson did not confirm or deny the subpoenas but said the administration was not targeting reporters but was concerned about people leaking classified information.
The White House referred all questions to the Justice Department.
Journalism advocacy groups criticised the subpoenas as a threat to press freedom and constitutional rights.
The National Press Club urged the Justice Department to “immediately” withdraw the subpoenas.
“When federal agents arrive at the homes of journalists with subpoenas, it is not ordinary law enforcement,” the club said in a statement. “It is an extraordinary assault on the freedom of the press that strikes at the heart of the First Amendment.”
Clayton was recently nominated by Trump to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press called on the US Senate Intelligence Committee to hold Clayton accountable when he appears for his confirmation hearing on July 15.
“When the public’s right to know is crushed, as the Trump Administration is trying to do with its subpoenas against The New York Times, all of us suffer irreparable harm, as does the freedom upon which this nation is built,” Stephen Adler, chairman of the Reporters Committee, said in a statement.
Trump said on July 8 that he would use an older Air Force One “for old time’s sake” to fly from Ankara to the Royal Air Force base at Mildenhall in Britain while the new plane stopped at the same base so US service members stationed there could tour the aircraft.
Video late on July 8 showed Trump boarding the new Air Force One gifted by Qatar at the British base as it prepared to fly to the US. REUTERS
US President Donald Trump boarding the new Air Force One in the UK on July 8 to fly back to the US.
PHOTO: AFP