The Wall Street Journal reported that it had received grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice demanding information about journalists as part of an investigation into leaks related to the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran.
According to the newspaper, the subpoenas were issued on March 4 and concerned a February 23 report stating that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and other Pentagon officials had warned Donald Trump about the risks of a military campaign against Iran. Five days after the article was published, the United States launched a joint operation with Israel.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday that the Trump administration had made leak investigations one of its priorities. According to him, the disclosure of classified information through the media threatens national security and the lives of American service members.
“Any witness—whether a reporter or anyone else—who has information about these crimes should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena related to the illegal leaking of classified materials,” Blanche wrote on X.
Dow Jones, the owner of The Wall Street Journal, described the government’s actions as “an attack on the constitutionally protected process of newsgathering.” Ashok Sinha, the company’s chief communications officer, said the newspaper intended to “vigorously oppose efforts to suppress and intimidate journalism.”
Since Trump’s return to the White House, the administration has intensified pressure on journalists and sources accused of providing classified information to the media. The policy has renewed debate over press freedom and the protection of journalistic sources under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The WSJ report came a week after a court ruling barred the Justice Department from searching the devices of Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson. Federal Judge Anthony Trenga criticized the attempted seizure of her equipment and said the journalist was protected under the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, which prohibits authorities from confiscating journalists’ work materials in criminal investigations.
Natanson had been in contact with Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones before his arrest on charges of unlawfully obtaining and distributing classified information.
In April, Trump also said his administration was searching for the person who leaked information to the media about the operation to rescue a pilot whose fighter jet had been shot down outside Iran.
“We have to find the person who leaked it because this is a sick individual,” Trump told reporters at the White House. According to him, the publication endangered the operation, and the author of the article “will go to jail” if they refuse to reveal the source of the information.
Trump has also publicly supported the arrests of journalists. In January, he said the detention of former CNN host Don Lemon was “the best thing that could have happened to him.”