Federal prosecutors investigating national security leaks tied to a New York Times report on Air Force One issued subpoenas seeking phone and text message records from the relatives of the newspaper’s journalists, the outlet disclosed on Monday.
The demand for those records was made public in a motion filed on Saturday and unsealed early Monday morning by attorneys for the newspaper. Those attorneys are asking for the subpoenas issued by the U.S. Department of Justice to be overturned.
The Justice Department informed the Times late last week that it had served third-party telecommunications providers with subpoenas seeking call and messaging records. Those demands were separate from subpoenas issued July 10 that sought to compel reporters to testify before a federal grand jury.
The investigation began after the Times reported that federal officials had raised concerns about the security capabilities of a Qatari-donated aircraft intended for presidential use. Trump traveled to Turkey aboard the plane but returned on an older Air Force One aircraft at the recommendation of the Secret Service.
Subpoenas against journalists are not common, but they are not unheard of, either. The Justice Department, under every recent president, has used the legal process to obtain records from journalists and news outlets that publish reports based on national security materials, largely to identify and root out suspected leakers.
But issuing similar legal demands against the relatives of reporters is without precedent. It represents an aggressive attempt to identify confidential sources, the newspaper said on Monday, and marks the latest escalation of a warn between President Donald Trump and members of his administration against news outlets that publish unfavorable or unflattering press coverage.
According to the filing, the Justice Department waited approximately one week before notifying the newspaper about the phone-record subpoenas. The Times called that delay “deeply concerning” and said the sequence of events suggested an effort to intimidate reporters and interfere with newsgathering.
Two subpoenas sought records dating to January 1, several months before the articles at the center of the investigation were published. The newspaper argued the broad time period suggested the government was examining the reporters’ source relationships beyond the Air Force One coverage.
The demands also extended to relatives. The Times said records were sought for two reporters’ spouses and the mother of another journalist. One spouse holds a senior position at a major law firm, while the mother works as a mental health professional.
The newspaper also alleged the Justice Department issued one records subpoena after the Times had already challenged the grand jury subpoenas before a federal judge overseeing the matter. Prosecutors then asked a different federal judge to prevent a phone provider from notifying the newspaper about the request, according to the filing.
All subpoenas have been placed on hold while Manhattan-based federal judge Arun Subramanian considers the Times’s motion. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
The White House referred questions to the Justice Department, which had not publicly responded to the newspaper’s allegations.
Seth Stern, the Chief of Advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, said federal guidelines have long required pursuing journalists and their records as a last resort in leaks investigations.
“Even the Mafia says families are off limits,” Stern said. “It’s gross that the administration, in its never-ending effort to harass and intimidate reporters who reveal its incompetence, is going after the communications of journalists’ relatives.”
Stern said the Times is only guilty of producing journalism that highlighted a major national security issue involving “Trump and those who travel with him, including journalists” when it comes to the Air Force One jet gifted by the Qataris.
“Trump’s hangers-on should be sending the Times thank-you cards, not subpoenas,” Stern affirmed.
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