US Justice Department announces plans to revoke critical protections for journalists

[Dennis Donovan]

Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press - US Justice Department announces plans to revoke critical protections for journalists

“Strong protections for journalists serve the American public by safeguarding the free flow of information."

By Reporters Committee Posted on April 25, 2025

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice released a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi directing the agency to rescind the current version of the “news media guidelines,” and publish a new policy. The guidelines, which have been in place since the Nixon administration, detail how and under what circumstances federal prosecutors can issue subpoenas, court orders, or search warrants for journalists’ testimony, work product, or other records.

The guidelines were most recently updated in 2022 and expressly prohibited the Justice Department from using subpoenas or other investigative tools against journalists who possess and publish classified information obtained in newsgathering, with only narrow exceptions.

Responding to the announcement, Reporters Committee President Bruce D. Brown made the following statement:

“We have seen this announcement, but we haven’t seen the language of the new policy.

“Some of the most consequential reporting in U.S. history — from Watergate to warrantless wiretapping after 9/11 — was and continues to be made possible because reporters have been able to protect the identities of confidential sources and uncover and report stories that matter to people across the political spectrum.

“Strong protections for journalists serve the American public by safeguarding the free flow of information.

“We’ll wait to see what the policy looks like, but we know reporters will still do their jobs, and there is no shortage of legal support to back them up.”

/snip

[Irish_Dem]

1. Bondage Barbie cracks her whip.

Bondage Barbie hates the First Amendment, and loathes a free press.

Bondage Barbie wears a black leather tank top and short shorts.
Cracks her genuine leather whip at reporters.

Bondage Barbie will tell reporters what to print and not print.

[BOSSHOG]

7. Stetson University wants their law degree back

If I didn’t want journalists reporting what I did I’d do the same thing Pam. You should be disbarred and apologize to Stetson.

[Irish_Dem]

12. Maybe she earned an opposite law degree.

She is taking every single thing she learned in law school and doing the opposite.

[sakabatou]

2. How long until we no longer have the Free Press?

[TearsOfDaClowned]

5. Apparently a Few Weeks.. Promises Made, Promises Kept! n/t

[orangecrush]

6. Welcome to DU

See ya

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Sen Wyden: "I have a bipartisan bill that would make these protections ironclad."

Senator Ron Wyden
‪@wyden.senate.gov‬
I have a bipartisan bill that would make these protections ironclad. It passed the House unanimously (twice) and it was never taken up in the Senate. Now Trump is laying the groundwork to lock up reporters who don't rat out their sources who expose crimes by his administration.

‪Chris Geidner‬
‪@chrisgeidner.bsky.social‬
1h
BREAKING: A.G. Bondi reverses Garland policy against subpoenaing journalists.

Stating that leaks "undermine President Trump’s policies," Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that "the news media ‘must answer subpoenas’ when authorized."

Today, at Law Dork —>

April 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM

I have a bipartisan bill that would make these protections ironclad. It passed the House unanimously (twice) and it was never taken up in the Senate. Now Trump is laying the groundwork to lock up reporters who don't rat out their sources who expose crimes by his administration.

— Senator Ron Wyden (@wyden.senate.gov) 2025-04-25T22:33:09.551Z

[FloridaBlues]

4. Is say now is the time to get on it... pass it.

[spanone]

8. Nothing is safe with these traitors in charge

[PortTack]

9. The last paragraph sums it up.....true journalists will NOT be silenced!

[ancianita]

10. Bondi is having the DOJ return to what the felon did during his first term under Barr or Sessions ...

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland formalized a new policy on Monday that broadly prohibits prosecutors from subpoenaing reporters' phone and email records, an abrupt shift after the Trump administration secretly seized records from several major news outlets in an effort to root out leaks.
In addition to the new policy, Garland reiterated that the Justice Department would also throw its support behind new media-shield legislation to make the policy permanent...

The Justice Department last month held meetings with media executives to discuss formulating a new policy. The meetings came after several media companies - including the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post- revealed that their reporters' records had been seized during Republican President Donald Trump's presidency in an effort to identify their confidential sources for national security stories...

... the policy makes it clear that prosecutors cannot subpoena a reporter's records merely because the reporter possesses or publishes classified information.
The protections also do not extend in cases where a person or entity is an agent of a foreign government, a member of a terrorist organization or if a person's life is in "imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm."

In a joint statement, the presidents of the Washington-based National Press Club and its nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, lauded the memo and said it strikes the right balance between protecting reporters while also protecting classified information.
"We are grateful the attorney general has at long last squared Justice Department policy with the First Amendment," said Lisa Nicole Matthews and Angela Greiling Keane ... Matthews and Keane added that the "broad and ongoing benefit" of allowing journalists to be allowed to expose facts the government might prefer to keep under wraps "outweighs the government’s interest in clamping down on any particular leak."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat, on Monday said in a statement that he felt "encouraged" by the memo, and supports legislation "to make certain that these changes are codified and remain the policy of the Department for years to come."

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/us-attorney-general-issues-broad-ban-against-seizing-media-records-2021-07-19/

[Solly Mack]

11. K&R