Trump Admin Sought NYT Journalists' Phone Records

The Trump administration sought phone records of several New York Times journalists and their relatives in an aggressive effort to unmask confidential sources who reported on a Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. This attempt to compel source identities through additional subpoenas was described in a letter-motion filed by The Times over the weekend, revealing a scope and timeframe exceeding the specific news articles in question. Lawyers for The Times noted that some subpoenas requested records beginning January 1, 2026, predating the events of the July 8 and 9 articles, suggesting a broader investigation into source relationships.

These phone record subpoenas followed grand jury subpoenas served on three journalists on July 10, demanding testimony about their sources. The New York Times is separately challenging these grand jury subpoenas, with a judge scheduled to hear arguments on Thursday. The newspaper's legal team pointed out that some phone record subpoenas were issued on the same day as the grand jury ones, with another issued the following day and a final one on July 16, after The Times had already moved to quash the grand jury subpoenas.

Lawyers for The Times argued that these phone record subpoenas should be dismissed, asserting that each instance demonstrated "bad faith" by the government. The legal filing highlighted that the government's actions indicated an intent to "forage for information about the Journalists’ source relationships more broadly" rather than focusing solely on concerns arising from the specific articles published on July 8 and 9. The executive branch's relationship with the press has been increasingly contentious during this period.