Overview
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that reporters should not be surprised to receive subpoenas in criminal leak investigations.
- The Wall Street Journal disclosed grand jury subpoenas dated March 4 seeking reporters’ records tied to a Feb. 23 story on Pentagon warnings before the Feb. 28 Iran war.
- Multiple outlets report President Trump personally pressed Blanche to escalate leak probes and handed him a stack of articles marked “treason.”
- The Justice Department says it is focused on finding government employees who leaked classified information and argues the leaks risked U.S. troops’ safety.
- News organizations and press-rights groups condemn the subpoenas as a threat to newsgathering, pointing to a 2025 DOJ policy shift that eased curbs on seeking journalists’ records and to earlier FBI searches of a Washington Post reporter’s devices.