US government cancels subpoena against three New York Times reporters

Withdrawal is latest instance of government’s efforts to crack down on critical media facing setbacks in court.Attorneys for the United States government have withdrawn subpoenas seeking to compel three New York Times reporters to testify about their sources for a story about an Air Force One jet gifted to US President Donald Trump by Qatar.Judge Arun Subramanian slammed the government’s lawyers for what he deemed sloppy legal work in an exchange in court on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump administration subpoenas New York Times reporters over coveragelist 2 of 3White House proposes NDAs for all US federal workerslist 3 of 3US Justice Department accuses 15 Minnesota activists of ‘antifa’ activitiesend of list“Subpoenas are not the first thing you do; they are the last thing you do,” an irritated Subramanian said.“When you see something like this, if this were a civil proceeding, what I would normally do is ask the parties to show causes why sanctions should not be issued,” he added.The Trump administration had sought to keep the proceedings secret as it pressured the reporters to reveal their sources for a story, a request that raised alarms for US press freedoms as the president and his allies continue to aggressively target critical media and political opponents.Such efforts, however, have largely been rejected in court. The US government recently withdrew similar subpoenas that sought to compel testimony from reporters with the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.Lawyers for the New York Times challenged the legitimacy of the grand jury subpoenas along with subpoenas for the phone records of several journalists and their relatives. The paper’s managing editor and general counsel sat in the gallery during proceedings on Thursday.The government has said that it is pursuing those who have leaked material to reporters for a story about Trump taking an older model Air Force One jet back from a summit in Turkiye, rather than the one gifted from Qatar.