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/
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