{"id":3406,"date":"2026-06-23T16:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3406"},"modified":"2026-06-23T16:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:05:06","slug":"justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-that-sought-reporters-grand-jury-testimony-sources-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3406","title":{"rendered":"Justice Department withdraws subpoenas that sought reporters\u2019 grand jury testimony, sources say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Justice Department issued and then withdrew subpoenas that sought to compel reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to testify before a grand jury, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court kills suit claiming Cisco\u2019s technology helped China persecute Falun Gong members<\/a><\/p>\n

The Washington Post confirmed that one of its reporters received a subpoena from the Trump administration as part of a broader and aggressive crackdown on media leaks that in January also included the extraordinary step of an FBI search of a Washington Post reporter\u2019s home and the seizure of her devices. Journalists at The Wall Street Journal also received grand jury subpoenas, according to people familiar with the matter, a rare and unusual move that critics said was a threat against press freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t immediately clear why the government withdrew the subpoenas or what precise news coverage the subpoenas concerned, but the decision to rescind them, first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post, was confirmed by people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a non-public law enforcement action.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray wrote in a staff email obtained by The Associated Press that a subpoena to Ellen Nakashima, a prominent national security journalist who has reported on the Iran war and deadly U.S. military boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea, had been withdrawn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe unwarranted subpoena of our reporter Ellen Nakashima \u2013 a clear violation of constitutionally guaranteed press freedom \u2013 was another sign of the government seeking to compel journalists to become instruments of its investigations. We will continue to stand fully behind the journalism of The Washington Post and fight all efforts by any administration that violate our First Amendment rights,” a newspaper spokesperson said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal didn\u2019t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Tuesday. An email seeking comment was sent to the Justice Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Schoeff Jr., a reporter at CQ Roll Call and president of the National Press Club, called the decision to seek grand jury testimony from journalists, \u201cone of the most aggressive actions against a free and independent press in recent memory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court sides with Trump administration on immigration case dealing with green card holders<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cReporters were one step away from being forced to participate in a criminal investigation because they were doing their jobs. That should alarm every American who values a free press,\u201d Schoeff said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Justice Department over the years has developed, and revised, internal policies governing how it will respond to news media leaks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the Justice Department across presidential administration has periodically seized the phone records of individual journalists in hopes of identifying sources for national security stories, it is extremely rare for the government to attempt to compel a reporter to reveal their sources before a grand jury.<\/span><\/p>\n

In April, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded a policy from President Joe Biden\u2019s Democratic administration that protected journalists from having their phone records secretly seized during leak investigations \u2014 a practice long decried by news organizations and press freedom groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

The moves again gave prosecutors the authority to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to hunt for government officials who make \u201cunauthorized disclosures\u201d to journalists. A memo she issued said members of the press are \u201cpresumptively entitled to advance notice of such investigative activities,\u201d and subpoenas are to be \u201cnarrowly drawn.\u201d Warrants must also include \u201cprotocols designed to limit the scope of intrusion into potentially protected materials or newsgathering activities,\u201d the memo states.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court rules Rastafari man can\u2019t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Washington Post confirmed that one of its reporters received a subpoena from the Trump administration as part of a broader and aggressive crackdown on media leaks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nJustice Department withdraws subpoenas that sought reporters\u2019 grand jury testimony, sources say - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3406\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Justice Department withdraws subpoenas that sought reporters\u2019 grand jury testimony, sources say - 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