Judge rebuffs Trump admin demand for phone records from NYT reporters
by Jon Brodkin from Ars Technica - All content on (#7777V)
After criticism from a federal judge, the Department of Justice yesterday withdrew demands for phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times reporters who wrote about security concerns related to the Air Force One jet donated to Trump by Qatar.
It was a setback in the Trump administration's attempts to unmask journalists' confidential sources. US District Judge Arun Subramanian "grilled Justice Department lawyers for nearly an hour over their handling of the subpoenas" during a hearing on Thursday, The New York Times wrote.
Either we can quash the subpoenas, or you could withdraw the subpoenas," Subramanian reportedly told Sean Buckley, chief counsel for the US attorney in New York's southern district.