The New York Times has taken legal action to challenge unusual subpoenas issued to several of its reporters last week. The subpoenas, which attempt to compel the reporters to testify before a grand jury about their anonymous sources, were described as “abusive and improper” by the Times’ top newsroom lawyer, David McCraw.

Background

The demands for testimony were delivered just two days after The Times published a story contradicting President Donald Trump’s claims about the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One. News reporting about the new plane’s security deficiencies angered the president and triggered a sprawling leak investigation.

Todd Blanche, Trump’s pick for attorney general, defended the investigative process at a Senate confirmation hearing. Blanche confirmed that he authorized the subpoenas and likened the reporters to “material witnesses, just like a reporter would be a material witness to a car crash. They are witnesses.”

First Amendment Concerns

The Times has asserted that US law protects journalists from retaliation, which it believes this case represents. A wide array of First Amendment groups and news media advocates have backed up The Times.

The newsroom’s executive editor, Joe Kahn, said that “we see this… as an attempt to intimidate the journalists and The Times itself, and we’re going to continue to report — both about Air Force One, and on the circumstances around the government use of prosecutorial power to intimidate the independent news media.”

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.