Justice Department Subpoenas Wall Street Journal Reporters in Iran Leak Probe

Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche defended issuing subpoenas to journalists on Tuesday as part of investigations into leaks of classified information. Blanche said the effort focuses on government employees who disclose sensitive material rather than the reporters who receive it.

The Justice Department defended itself after the Wall Street Journal revealed it received subpoenas in connection with a leak investigation.

The Wall Street Journal received the grand jury subpoenas on March 4. They relate to a Feb. 23 article that reported the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others at the Pentagon had warned President Trump about the risks of an extended military campaign against Iran.

Other news media outlets published similar stories around the same time as the Wall Street Journal's Feb. 23 article. The subpoenas demand records from Journal reporters. A Justice Department official stressed that the subpoenas are not aimed at investigating the journalists themselves but at tracking down government employees leaking classified information.

Blanche issued two statements explaining the administration's position. "Prosecuting leakers who share our nation's secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration," he said. " The development marks an aggressive use of legal tools against media organizations reporting on national security matters.

Earlier this year, the FBI executed a search warrant at the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. Agents collected Hannah Natanson's phone, laptops, Garmin watch and portable hard drives. That search warrant at Hannah Natanson's home was part of an investigation into a government contractor who was later indicted for allegedly disseminating classified material.

Such actions stand in contrast to historical practice in Espionage Act investigations, where the department has typically pursued leakers rather than the journalists who publish the information. In April 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo that made it easier for prosecutors investigating leaks to the news media to subpoena records and testimony from journalists.

Pam Bondi's memo rescinded a policy implemented by her predecessor Merrick Garland.

Under Bondi's regulations, prosecutors in criminal investigations are allowed to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to compel production of information and testimony by and relating to members of the news media. The Biden administration had previously imposed new restrictions that made it much harder to seize reporters' phones and email records.

The current approach revives tactics that drew criticism during President Trump's first term, when the department secretly served subpoenas on both journalists and congressional staff members in leak investigations.

Dow Jones chief communications officer Ashok Sinha condemned the subpoenas. " Blanche did not name any specific outlet in his public remarks on Tuesday, though they followed the Journal's disclosure by one day. The subpoenas tie directly to coverage of internal Pentagon debates over potential military action against Iran, a subject that generated reporting across multiple organizations in late February.