On July 11, 2026, the New York Times reported that the DOJ subpoenaed several of its journalists to testify before a federal grand jury about their Air Force One story.
The underlying article detailed security concerns tied to a Boeing 747 donated by Qatar for use as a presidential aircraft.
The First Amendment does not explicitly protect reporters from grand jury subpoenas, per the Supreme Court's 1972 Branzburg v. Hayes ruling.
There is no federal shield law; 49 states and DC offer some journalist-source protection, but Congress has never passed a national version.
In 2021, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a policy barring the DOJ from seizing reporters' records in leak investigations, a rule the current administration has moved to loosen.