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Pentagon and Justice Department build joint task force to prosecute media leaks

Pentagon and Justice Department build joint task force to prosecute media leaks

Rule Changes

A new interagency body can compel records in two days, days after four New York Times reporters were subpoenaed

Yesterday: Policy details institutionalize the crackdown

Overview

Federal agents knocked on four New York Times reporters' doors last weekend with grand-jury subpoenas. Days later, the Pentagon and the Justice Department stood up a permanent task force to find and prosecute the people who talk to journalists.

The task force gives the Pentagon's top lawyers a new power: they can order any part of the department to hand over records tied to a leak investigation within two days. Leak crackdowns usually rise and fade with each administration. This one is being built to last.

Why it matters

A standing task force that can compel records in 48 hours changes the odds that a federal employee who talks to a reporter gets caught and charged.

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Key Indicators

4
Times reporters subpoenaed
All four bylined on the Air Force One security story received grand-jury subpoenas.
2 days
Records compliance window
Pentagon components must fully answer the general counsel's requests within two days.
1917
Espionage Act year
The century-old law most often used to charge government leakers.
Permanent
Task force status
The body is structured as a standing mechanism, not a one-off review.

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People Involved

Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth
Announced and now oversees the leak task force
 Pam Bondi
Pam Bondi
Leads the Justice Department side of the task force
 Jodie Ginsberg
Jodie Ginsberg
Leading press-freedom pushback
 Julian E. Barnes
Julian E. Barnes
Subpoenaed to a grand jury

Organizations Involved

Pentagon Office of General Counsel
Pentagon Office of General Counsel
Government legal office
Holds the new compulsion power

The Pentagon's top legal office, now empowered to demand any leak-related records from across the department within two days.
The New York Times
The New York Times
News organization
Four reporters subpoenaed

The newspaper whose Air Force One reporting triggered the subpoenas at the center of this story.

Timeline

5 events Latest: Yesterday
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Policy details institutionalize the crackdown

    Latest Policy

    Reporting confirms the Office of General Counsel can compel any Pentagon component to hand over leak records within two days.

  2. Hegseth announces joint leak task force

    Statement

    Hegseth says the Pentagon and Justice Department formed a task force to find and prosecute leakers, and gives lawyers a two-day compulsion power.

  3. Press groups call subpoenas an escalation

    Reaction

    The Committee to Protect Journalists and other advocates warn the subpoenas threaten press freedom and chill reporting.

  4. Justice Department subpoenas four reporters

    Legal

    Agents serve grand-jury subpoenas on Times reporters Julian Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt, some at their homes.

  5. Times reports Air Force One security gaps

    Publication

    The New York Times reports the Qatari-donated presidential plane lacks antimissile defenses built into the older aircraft.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

May 2013

AP phone records seizure (2013)

The Justice Department secretly subpoenaed two months of phone records for about 20 Associated Press reporters, hunting the source of a story about a foiled Yemen bomb plot. The AP called it a massive and unprecedented intrusion into news-gathering.

Then

The disclosure drew bipartisan criticism and public apology pressure on the department.

Now

Attorney General Eric Holder tightened the rules for subpoenaing reporters, making media-leak investigations harder to pursue.

Why this matters now

It shows the same tool in reverse. Where 2013 ended in tighter limits on going after reporters, the 2026 task force builds a standing machine to do more of it.

2010

James Rosen named as co-conspirator (2010)

Investigators labeled Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator under the Espionage Act to get a warrant for his emails and phone logs in a State Department leak case. No charges were ever filed against him.

Then

The tactic sparked an outcry once it became public in 2013.

Now

It fed the debate over whether the Espionage Act can be turned against journalists, not just their sources.

Why this matters now

The 2026 task force revives that question. Subpoenaing reporters directly tests how far the government can reach toward the journalists themselves.

June 1971

Pentagon Papers (1971)

The Nixon administration tried to stop the Times and Washington Post from publishing a secret history of the Vietnam War leaked by analyst Daniel Ellsberg. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the government could not block publication.

Then

The papers kept publishing and Ellsberg was charged, though his case later collapsed over government misconduct.

Now

The ruling set a high bar against prior restraint and became the anchor case for U.S. press freedom.

Why this matters now

It marks the constitutional floor this story sits above. The 2026 effort targets sources and reporters after the fact, not publication itself, the line the 1971 case drew.

Sources

(6)
Military Times The Washington Post NewscastStudio NPR CNN PBS NewsHour