DOJ to withdraw subpoenas for New York Times reporters over Air Force 1 story

The Justice Department told a judge it will withdraw its subpoenas for grand jury testimony and phone record records from New York Times reporters during a heated court hearing Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian grilled federal prosecutors working for the Justice Department on why it had issued subpoenas before taking further investigative steps, and questioned whether he should issue sanctions over alleged perjury in an application to a judge to secure the subpoenas. 

The New York Times said earlier this month that several of its reporters received grand jury subpoenas on the same day it published reporting on President Trump’s use of an old presidential aircraft to depart from the NATO summit in Turkey. The paper said the subpoenas were signed by Jay Clayton, who served as the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and was tapped by President Trump for director of national intelligence.

The news outlet moved to block the subpoenas, calling them “abusive and improper.” The newspaper said in court filings that prosecutors attempted to gain access to phone records of Times journalists and their family members as part of a Justice Department effort to identity sources who spoke to the reporters about security systems on the new Air Force One plane, which was donated by the Qatari government.

This is a developing story and will be updated