The U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One, during President Donald Trump’s Ankara visit.
The new jet, a present from the U.S. ally that the administration spent $400 million on to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week and was used for the Ankara visit.
But Trump used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Türkiye and later referenced threats against him made by Iran.
The subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan next week, the Times said, adding that federal agents delivered some subpoenas to the reporters at their homes.
They were issued after FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials met at the White House on July 10 to talk about the matter.
The journalists subpoenaed included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, the Times reported.
It also said that before its first story was published, a senior official at the FBI contacted a reporter and editor to ask that the article be held, citing national security issues. The newspaper said that the FBI official declined to explain the security issue but asked The Times to disclose its sources for the story, which the Times said it refused to do.
“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times, said in a statement.
