Overview
- Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a 28-page inspection demand to The New York Times on behalf of Florida’s State Board of Administration seeking up to six years of board minutes and internal materials.
- Uthmeier cited reports that the paper issued 72 corrections for Israel-Hamas coverage between October 2023 and June 2024 and singled out a May 2026 Nicholas Kristof opinion that drew threats of legal action from Israeli officials.
- The Times publicly rejected the request as a threat to press freedom and called the letter a clear attempt to chill First Amendment-protected journalism.
- Uthmeier gave the company 14 days to permit inspection or propose a production schedule and warned he would seek a special proceeding in New York Supreme Court if the Times did not comply.
- The move uses a shareholder-inspection tool to raise corporate-governance and investor-protection questions and could test how New York law balances shareholder oversight against newsroom independence while affecting Florida retirees who hold the shares.