The New York Times said on Aug. 1 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) subpoenaed one of its freelance journalists over his 2025 story of a failed U.S. military operation in North Korea.
The newspaper said freelancer Matthew Cole was subpoenaed in February and the federal government sought to obtain more than two years’ worth of his notes and his testimony over a story he cowrote about Navy SEALs’ killing of several unarmed North Koreans in early 2019 during their mission to plant a listening device near the country’s borders.
The story cited two dozen unnamed sources.
“We support Matthew Cole’s decision to make public a subpoena that the government has attempted to keep secret,” New York Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.
Cole’s attorney, David O’Neil, whose fees The New York Times is paying, also did not respond to a request for comment.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify details of the subpoena other than what the newspaper’s spokesman said.
“It is part of the government’s escalating attacks on journalists, which should concern all Americans,” Stadtlander said. “Mr. Cole has dedicated his career to investigative journalism in the public interest. The demand that he disclose his sources is another brazen and illegal attack from the administration designed to deny the public information of vital importance.”
The first article, published on July 8, claimed that the U.S. Secret Service had urged Trump to instead board the old Air Force One when he left the NATO summit in Turkey earlier in July. A second article on July 9, citing anonymous sources, alleged that the aircraft lacked advanced security features, such as anti-missile capabilities.
The DOJ had reiterated that the subpoenas were meant to root out “those leaking classified information” and were not targeted at the New York Times reporters.
Regardless, Judge Arun Subramanian of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said on July 23 that he would have granted the media outlet’s request to have the subpoenas thrown out even if the agency hadn’t withdrawn them.
Subramanian said that the government was required to ensure it could not obtain the information it was after in any other way before issuing subpoenas.
“Subpoenas are not the first thing you do; they are the last thing you do,” the judge said, citing protections in the First Amendment and accusing the government of turning the law “on its head.”
A DOJ spokesperson told The Epoch Times at the time that Subramanian threatened the government with sanctions unless the subpoenas were withdrawn and accused him of blocking the DOJ from “presenting the meticulous process of this investigation.”
“The grand jury has a right to hear testimony from all material witnesses in a federal criminal investigation,” the spokesperson said. “This judge’s conduct overrides clear longstanding principles and common sense—blocking the grand jury from receiving core evidence in a national security investigation.”
Although it withdrew its subpoenas, the DOJ said its investigation into who leaked classified information remained ongoing.
