Media Apoplectic at DOJ and FBI Investigating Four New York Times Reporters for Compromising President Trump Security During Turkey Visit
Generally speaking, CTH is against the Dept of Justice filing warrants and subpoenas against journalists. However, in this case the actions are warranted. If this was the Obama or Biden DOJ taking action against journalists, yes, CTH would support the govt side – on this specific point.
The issue surrounds four journalists for The New York Times who filed a public report that President Trump’s new Airforce One airplane did not have anti-missile defense systems at the time it was used in the trip to the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey.
Beyond the issue of the reported leak to the media, the FBI requested the NYT not to publish their article as it would compromise the presidential security detail in a designated hostile environment. The NYT refused to withhold their reporting and did so specifically with the intent on compromising the security of a United States President. There is no circumstance where that type of journalistic motive is okay; regardless of who is President.
From the Times perspective, their report reflected an opportunity to cast snark at President Trump’s decision to convert a gifted Airforce One from Qatar. Additionally, the New York Times knew their report would put the lives of those aboard the airplane at risk. The journalists went forward specifically knowing the report could lead to a severe security compromise.
NEW YORK TIMES – The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several journalists for The New York Times, after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
The subpoenas — which seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday — were an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations.
In some cases, the subpoenas were delivered by federal agents who showed up at reporters’ homes.
[…] “Our journalists report the facts and advance the American public’s right to know how their government is operating and their taxpayer dollars are being used,” Mr. McCraw wrote. “This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.”
The subpoenas contain few specifics, asking only that the journalists testify “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.” They were issued by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Mr. Clayton, who leads one of the country’s most prominent law enforcement offices, was recently nominated by Mr. Trump to serve as director of national intelligence.
[…] The Times reported that the new Air Force One, a Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities. Both articles cited sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.
Before the Wednesday article was published, a senior official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted The Times to ask that the article be held, calling it an issue of national security, according to a person familiar with the conversation. The F.B.I. official spoke with a reporter and a senior editor in The Times’s Washington bureau; the official declined to explain the security issue when asked. (A spokesman for The Times, Charlie Stadtlander, confirmed the account.) (read more)
There is a point at which severe opposition to the President needs to be moderated in the interests of national security and common sense (decency). There was/is no value in publishing the article at the time it was made public, except to compromise the security of President Trump.
The escalating resistance to President Trump from American media is increasingly, intentionally crossing a line.
The Trump administration is right to take all appropriate measures against such reporting.
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