Trump’s Justice Department rediscovers its enthusiasm for intimidating the press
Nothing says “freedom of the press” quite like the government treating investigative reporting as an annoying security vulnerability.
The Trump Justice Department continues its belligerent reinterpretation of constitutional rights, with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche publicly suggesting that journalists who receive information about government misconduct should maybe start shopping for lawyers.
The subpoena warning comes as alarm has heightened over the White House’s efforts to target news organizations that have criticized the Trump administration. According to recent reports from CNN and The Wall Street Journal, Trump has been pressuring the DOJ to pursue subpoenas connected to Iran war operation leaks in an effort to identify their sources.
“To the media asking about DOJ investigating the leaking of classified information: Prosecuting leakers who share our nation’s secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration,” Blanche wrote in a post on X early Tuesday.
“Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material,” Blanche wrote.
Nothing says “freedom of the press” quite like the government treating investigative reporting as an annoying security vulnerability.
Will no one rid me of these pesky journalists?
This has been tried before multiple times. President Woodrow Wilson used the Espionage Act to try to prosecute reporter's sources, George W. Bush tried it when a CIA operatives name was leaked, Barack Obama also used the Espionage Act to target sources and, in some cases, subpoenaed reporters' phone records, and of course Donald Trump on every reporter who has ever published a leak. I don't think anyone has ever been actually prosecuted.
It didn't work in the times of major and even really long minor wars and it won't work now as long as the tenants of the United States Constitution are still followed.