Justice Department Sought Phone Records of Times Journalists and Their Relatives

According to a motion unsealed on July 20, 2026, the Justice Department sought phone records of several New York Times journalists and some of their relatives as part of an effort to identify the confidential sources behind reporting on Trump's Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. The subpoenas, described in a filing by the Times, were broader than previously known: two sought records beginning January 1, 2026 — months before the July articles the department cited — and additional requests covered one reporter's mother and two journalists' spouses. The Justice Department said that "reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are."

The disclosures escalate an already contentious relationship between the administration and the press. The Times argued the subpoenas' timeframe suggested the government was seeking information about reporters' source relationships broadly, and characterized the effort as an abuse of the grand jury process and a violation of the department's own internal regulations protecting newsgathering. Press-freedom advocates have described such subpoenas as tools of intimidation.

The subpoenas are the subject of an ongoing motion to quash; no court has yet ruled on their validity.