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. <\/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<\/a> 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. <\/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. <\/p>\n 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<\/a> and deadly U.S. military boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea<\/a>, had been withdrawn. <\/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,\u201d a newspaper spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n AP AUDIO: Justice Department withdraws subpoenas that sought reporters\u2019 grand jury testimony, sources say\n <\/p>\n AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports AP sources say the Trump administration has withdrawn subpoenas seeking reporters to testify before a grand jury.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal didn\u2019t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Tuesday. <\/p>\n Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to comment on the subpoenas or the decision to withdraw them while speaking to reporters after an unrelated news conference, calling it a grand jury matter.<\/p>\n \u201cTo the extent that we have to investigate breaches of national security, in whatever form they come, that\u2019s something that we will continue to do,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n He noted that in media leak investigations, \u201creporters are not our targets. We very much value the role that reporters play in this city and country.\u201d<\/p>\n But, he added, \u201cI have a similarly important role to make sure that people that are entrusted with our nation\u2019s secrets do what they\u2019re supposed to do with that information, which — spoiler alert — means not sharing with reporters. There\u2019s tension there. I don\u2019t deny there\u2019s tension there. But I\u2019m not going to stop investigating people who work for this administration who think it\u2019s OK to leak classified information.\u201d<\/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 <\/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.<\/p>\n The Justice Department over the years has developed, and revised, internal policies governing how it will respond to news media leaks<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though the Justice Department across presidential administration has periodically seized the phone records of individual journalists<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n