President Donald Trump pushed for the Department of Justice to subpoena reporters’ records over Iran war leaks, multiple media reports claim.
According to the Wall Street Journal and CNN, the president allegedly complained about Iran war media leaks to Todd Blanche, giving the acting attorney general a stack of news articles that he and other officials felt threatened the country’s security. The stack in-question allegedly had a sticky note on top of it, which was labeled in sharpie: “Treason.”
It’s said Trump zeroed in on articles detailing his decision making behind the start of the Iran war, including what his advisers had told him before the launch of the military operation.
The Wall Street Journal shared in their Monday report that the storied outlet received grand jury subpoenas dated March 4 for records belonging to its reporters. Per the WSJ, the request was tied to its Feb. 23 article, titled, “Pentagon Flags Risks of a Major Operation Against Iran.”
“The government’s subpoenas to The Wall Street Journal and our reporters represent an attack on constitutionally protected newsgathering,” Ashok Sinha, the chief communications officer of Dow Jones, which publishes the WSJ, said in a statement. “We will vigorously oppose this effort to stifle and intimidate essential reporting.”
While spokespeople for the White House and the DOJ did not return TheWrap’s request for comment, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice told the WSJ, “In all circumstances, the Department of Justice follows the facts and applies the law to identify those committing crimes against the United States.”
The investigation is meant to identify leaks within the government and not a targeted attack against reporters, one source told CNN on Monday.
This update comes over a month after Trump threatened to jail an unspecified journalist after it was reported that an injured Air Force officer was missing in Iran.
“We didn’t talk about the first one for an hour, then somebody leaked something, which we’ll hopefully find that leaker,” Trump said at the time. “We’re looking very hard to find that leaker … They didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information. So whoever there was, we think we’ll be able to find it out, because we’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security, give it up or go to jail.’“
Trump’s threat sent First Amendment advocates into a tailspin, with National Press Club president Mark Schoeff noting that the president’s remarks “risk chilling constitutionally protected reporting … sending a dangerous signal to those who would seek to undermine press freedom.”
