DOJ withdraws subpoenas to NY Times reporters in Trump plane probe - CNBC

The Department of Justice withdrew subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony and phone records from New York Times reporters connected to an article about security issues surrounding President Donald Trump's new Air Force One jet, prosecutors told a federal judge on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
The withdrawal came during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan, who had warned prosecutor Sean Buckley he would quash the subpoenas at The Times' request if the DOJ did not pull them back.
Subramanian pressed Buckley, asking "Why isn't that the right outcome?" and later issued an order noting the DOJ's voluntary withdrawal while requiring the government to return to the court before reissuing any subpoenas.
The DOJ, which described the subpoenas as part of a national security investigation into a leak of sensitive information, had issued them on July 10, with federal agents delivering several to reporters' homes.
The Times reported the DOJ also subpoenaed third-party phone providers for journalists' phone and text records, including a subpoena targeting the phone records of one reporter's mother.
The subpoenas were issued by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, and authorized by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche; the underlying July 8 article reported Trump flew from Turkey on the old Air Force One rather than his Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 as a security precaution tied to renewed hostilities with Iran.