Overview
- Federal prosecutors in Manhattan issued subpoenas on Friday ordering five New York Times journalists to testify before a grand jury this week, and some papers say agents delivered the orders to reporters' homes.
- The reporting that triggered the probe described security shortcomings in a Qatari‑donated Boeing 747‑8 President Donald Trump plans to use as Air Force One, including the loss of advanced defensive countermeasures.
- The Justice Department says it is pursuing government leakers, not journalists, while the Times says it will ask a court to quash the subpoenas and is preparing a legal fight.
- Legal experts note there is no federal shield law and that a qualified reporter's privilege is weakest in criminal grand‑jury proceedings, so courts will weigh whether the subpoenas are overbroad or issued in bad faith.
- The move follows other 2026 leak probes that used subpoenas and an FBI search of a reporter's home, and observers say Jay Clayton's role as the SDNY U.S. attorney and his pending nomination to a national‑security post heighten the political stakes.