Justice Department withdraws subpoenas to New York Times reporters
The Justice Department said Thursday it would withdraw subpoenas seeking call and texting records, as well as grand jury testimony from New York Times journalists who reported on the security capabilities of President Donald Trump‘s new Qatari-donated Air Force One jet. “The government is prepared to unilaterally withdraw the subpoenas at this time,” Sean Buckley, […]
The Justice Department said Thursday it would withdraw subpoenas seeking call and texting records, as well as grand jury testimony from New York Times journalists who reported on the security capabilities of President Donald Trump‘s new Qatari-donated Air Force One jet.
“The government is prepared to unilaterally withdraw the subpoenas at this time,” Sean Buckley, a senior official in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, said during a hearing in U.S. district court.
” data-large-file=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-to-new-york-times-reporters.jpg” src=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-to-new-york-times-reporters.jpg” alt=”President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews.” class=”wp-image-4632519″ srcset=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-to-new-york-times-reporters.webp 1024w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-to-new-york-times-reporters.webp?resize=300,200 300w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-to-new-york-times-reporters.webp?resize=768,512 768w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-to-new-york-times-reporters.webp?resize=150,100 150w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-to-new-york-times-reporters.webp?resize=696,464 696w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The decision to withdraw the subpoenas, which were issued on July 10, came after U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, questioned DOJ lawyers for nearly an hour about their handling of the subpoenas. The New York Times had asked the court to quash them, describing the demands as an attempt to intimidate its reporters.
Subramanian said the withdrawal would not prevent the DOJ from issuing new subpoenas to the journalists if prosecutors followed the appropriate procedures.
The subpoenas stemmed from an article published this month speculating on why Trump departed a NATO summit in Turkey aboard an older presidential aircraft, instead of flying in the new Qatari-gifted plane, which he had used to travel to the summit.
At the time, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton issued subpoenas because the coverage posed a “substantial national security concern” related to leaks of national defense information as the president was flying amid hostilities in the region. One day before the subpoenas were filed, Israel alerted the United States of a fresh Iran-backed plot to assassinate Trump.
The crux of information reported by the outlet, as well as other prominent news agencies, was that the new Air Force One lacked the defensive countermeasures to evade missiles and other threats. It is not immediately clear what information the New York Times may have encountered or reported that caused the government to seek answers from four of its reporters — Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt.
Trump said earlier this week that the jet gifted by Qatar would be “maxed out” before it returns to service, adding “it’ll take about a month.”
While Trump did not elaborate what he meant about the additional upgrades, the administration has maintained that the gifted jet is safe for flying the president, and representatives for the White House have said the updates will be complete later in the fall.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit organization that provides pro bono help for reporters and news organizations, applauded the judge’s decision in a statement Thursday evening.
“Targeting reporters to appease the White House has reached a dead end once again in the federal courts,” committee President Bruce D. Brown said. “Judge Subramanian saw DOJ’s effort clearly for what it was: a brazen and careless government overreach.”
The Washington Examiner contacted the New York Times for a response.
