Justice Dept. Withdraws Grand Jury Subpoenas of Journalists

The Justice Department has withdrawn subpoenas that sought to force reporters to appear before a federal grand jury in Virginia as part of the Trump administration’s intensifying effort to ferret out leakers about its internal decision-making.The subpoenas had sought to compel testimony from reporters at The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post this month, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the details of the investigations.But the Justice Department backed down after the news organizations fought them in sealed filings.The grand jury subpoenas represented a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to force journalists to cooperate with criminal investigations into disclosures of national security information.It was not immediately clear whether the Justice Department would try again to subpoena the reporters.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, who President Trump has nominated to permanently fill the job, defended the practice last month.“Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material,” Mr.Blanche said.While leak investigations into disclosures of classified information are common, subpoenas aimed at journalists are not.

Advocates of press freedom say they intrude on the First Amendment, and chill critical news gathering.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....