Trump pushed Justice Dept. to subpoena reporters covering war on Iran: Report

US President Donald Trump has reportedly pushed the Justice Department to issue subpoenas to reporters covering the war against Iran in an attempt to uncover their sources, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Trump delivered his message on a sticky note bearing the word “Treason” written in Sharpie, which he placed atop a stack of printed articles handed to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during a White House meeting, officials said.

Following the meeting, the department issued several subpoenas, including to The Wall Street Journal, which first revealed the probes.

One official told CNN that the Justice Department’s National Security Division was already preparing to examine some of the stories’ sources, but Trump’s stack of articles accelerated the effort.

A source told CNN that the investigation aims to identify government employees who leaked information, not the reporters themselves.

Nevertheless, the subpoenas represent one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts against leaks concerning the administration.

Trump, who has complained about leaks of classified information to reporters since his first term, has been particularly furious when his private comments or details of his briefings related to the Iran war became public, according to several people familiar with his response.

Months into Trump’s second term, former Attorney General Pam Bondi revised Justice Department policy to allow federal investigators, in certain cases, to seek reporters’ phone records, notes, or testimony through court orders, warrants, or subpoenas.

The move, which made it easier for investigators to identify sources, reversed a years-long ban imposed after revelations that Attorney General William Barr had secretly sought reporters’ emails during Trump’s first term.

Poll: Two thirds of Americans say Trump had no clear case for war against Iran

Two-thirds of Americans believe that Trump had no clear case for the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran.

Last month, just one day after the US president fired Bondi, Trump publicly threatened to send an unspecified reporter to jail as part of a hunt for the “leaker” behind reports of an injured Air Force officer missing inside Iran.

Following Trump’s threat, Blanche stated that the Justice Department “will always investigate” leaks involving classified information, particularly those that put US service members at risk.

“And we will investigate if it means sending a subpoena to the reporter,” he said. “That’s exactly what we should do, and that’s exactly what we will be doing.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that it had received a grand jury subpoena for reporters’ records related to an article published five days before the war began.

The article concerned Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine and others at the Pentagon who had warned the president about the risks of an extended aggression against Iran.

“The government’s subpoenas to The Wall Street Journal and our reporters represent an attack on constitutionally protected newsgathering,” a spokesperson for Dow Jones, which publishes The Journal, said in a statement to CNN. “We will vigorously oppose this effort to stifle and intimidate essential reporting.”

In addition to The Journal, other news outlets have received subpoenas in recent months, a person at one of the news outlets said on condition of anonymity. However, some of those news organizations have chosen not to comment on the matter for the time being.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk