Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche warned on Tuesday that reporters who receive classified information will be subpoenaed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Blanche, in a statement on social media, announced the DOJ’s efforts to combat the leaking of sensitive material concerning matters of national security.
The report suggested that Trump was frustrated with leaks related to the war and that he pushed Blanche to act more aggressively to pursue investigations into those leaks.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a response to the DOJ’s latest efforts, suggesting it was an attack on freedom of the press.
CPJ demanded that the DOJ withdraw the grand jury subpoenas targeting reporters at the Wall Street Journal.
Blanche’s comments also come after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called for another investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), claiming he improperly disclosed classified information during a television interview.
Under former Attorney General Pam Bondi, the DOJ rescinded a Biden-era policy that restricted prosecutors from seizing reporters' records in criminal investigations, allowing federal prosecutors to once again have authority to use subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to hunt for government officials who make “unauthorized disclosures” to journalists.
Back in January, federal agents searched the Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her electronic devices as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking sensitive data to her. But a federal judge in that case upheld an injunction that bars the Trump administration from accessing her phone and laptops.