Bondi ends Biden-era policy to smoke out leaks to journalists

Journalists can be subject to court orders and search warrants for their phone records, notes and testimony as Donald Trump’s administration tries to hunt down “unauthorised disclosures” to reporters, according to a new memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The measure reverses Department of Justice policy under Joe Biden’s administration, which intended to protect freedom of the press from government interference and unlawful intimidation.

But an internal Justice Department memo from Bondi’s office claims that dropping the policy is necessary to prevent the release of not just “classified” information but “privileged and other sensitive information” — a much broader set of information that civil rights advocates fear could open reporters to law enforcement scrutiny for typical newsgathering, including revealing sources.

“Some of the most consequential reporting in US history — from Watergate to warrantless wiretapping after 911 — was and continues to be made possible because reporters have been able to protect the identities of confidential sources and uncover and report stories that matter to people across the political spectrum,” Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press president Bruce D. Brown said in a statement. “We’ll wait to see what the policy looks like, but we know reporters will still do their jobs, and there is no shortage of legal support to back them up,” he added.

Prosecutors can use court orders and search warrants to “compel production of information and testimony by and relating to the news media,” according to the memo. The policy also states that members of the press are “presumptively entitled to advance notice of such investigative activities,” and subpoenas are to be “narrowly drawn.” Warrants must also include “protocols designed to limit the scope of intrusion into potentially protected materials or newsgathering activities.” Before deciding whether to subpoena news organisations, prosecutors must determine whether there’s a reasonable basis to believe that a crime has been committed and that the information the government is seeking is needed for prosecution, according to the memo. But “the Justice Department will not tolerate unauthorised disclosures that undermine President Trump’s policies, victimise government agencies, and cause harm to the American people,” Bondi wrote.

The policy advances Trump’s antagonistic relationship with the press after he spent three campaigns and his time in office raging against journalists and publishers he labels “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.” Last year, he demanded congressional Republicans block the bipartisan Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or PRESS Act, which intended to enshrine that Biden-era Justice Department policy protecting journalists’ information.

“REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL!” Trump wrote on Truth Social last year. During his first term in office, Trump’s attorney general William Barr had secretly pursued records from reporters at CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Attorney General Merrick Garland later issued a rule that banned prosecutors from trying to seize records and notes from reporters.

The PRESS Act was ultimately shelved. “Every Democrat who put the PRESS Act on the back burner when they had the opportunity to pass a bipartisan bill codifying journalist-source confidentiality should be ashamed,” Freedom of the Press Foundation director of advocacy Seth Stern said in a statement. Trump has threatened to revoke broadcast licenses for news networks over critical coverage and is currently suing CBS for $10 billion over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission’s chair Brendan Carr has launched probes into public broadcasters and revived complaints against network news outlets.