US Justice Department says it will no longer seize reporters’ records in leak investigations
- Last month, President Joe Biden said he would not allow his Justice Department to seize the phone or email records of reporters
- It was recently revealed that former President Donald Trump’s administration had secretly obtained phone and email records from a number of journalists
The Department of Justice said on Saturday it would no longer seek source information from reporters in leak investigations after recent revelations that former President Donald Trump’s administration had secretly obtained phone and email records from a number of journalists.
CNN and The Washington Post have said the Trump administration had secretly tried to obtain the phone records of some of their reporters over work they did in 2017.
Last month, Biden said he would not allow his Justice Department to seize the phone or email records of reporters, saying any such move would be “simply wrong.”
“DOJ has now completed a review to determine all instances in which the department had pending compulsory requests from reporters in leak investigations,” Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said in a statement.
“Going forward, consistent with the president’s direction, this Department of Justice – in a change to its long-standing practice – will not seek compulsory legal process in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media doing their jobs,” Coley added.