Subpoenas issued to NY Times reporters seen as 'dangerous and uncharted' threat to press freedom

By — Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/subpoenas-issued-to-ny-times-reporters-seen-as-dangerous-and-uncharted-threat-to-press-freedom Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Subpoenas issued to NY Times reporters seen as 'dangerous and uncharted' threat to press freedom Nation Jul 14, 2026 1:42 PM EDT Dangerous. Brazen. Unprecedented. Uncharted territory. Reaction in the media world has been swift and severe to the issue of subpoenas to five New York Times journalists who reported on security questions involving the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One — a legal maneuver seen as a troubling escalation of the Trump administration's campaign to control and intimidate independent media outlets. "The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump's efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country," said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Media advocates and analysts expressed dismay at the tactic, even after months in which news organizations drawing President Donald Trump's ire have been attacked both in courtrooms and in the court of public opinion; media access to corridors of power has been blocked; and a Washington journalist's home has been searched by federal agents. "They have used the levers of power to intimidate and demonize professional journalists who report stories that are unfavorable to the administration's desired narrative," said Frank Sesno, a former CNN White House bureau chief who is now a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University. He called Friday's subpoenas "dangerous and uncharted territory, but merely an extension of what we have seen from this administration and president." "Don't like a poll? Sue the Des Moines Register," he said. "Don't like the way an interview is edited? Sue '60 Minutes.' Don't like the coverage of the gifted Air Force One? Order the FBI to investigate and subpoena the journalists for what is, by the way, a story that is in the public interest." Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at home Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at their homes, the Times said. Sought by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, they seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan this week. The new jet in question, a present from Qatar that Trump's administration spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week. But the Republican president used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey. WATCH: Trump's 'censorship and control' campaign threatens press freedom, FCC commissioner says The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the switch had come at the urging of the Secret Service and that the newer plane lacked some of t