The United States Justice Department has subpoenaed freelance journalist Matthew Cole in connection with a probe into the sourcing of a New York Times investigation into a botched American military operation in North Korea, the newspaper revealed on Saturday. The subpoena, issued in February by prosecutors in Virginia, demands more than two years' worth of Cole's notes as well as his personal testimony. The Times confirmed it is funding Cole's legal defence.
The story at the centre of the probe, co-written by Cole and Times national correspondent Dave Philipps and published last September, detailed a secret 2019 mission in which US Navy SEALs landed on North Korean shores with the aim of planting an electronic listening device to intercept communications. According to the reporting, the mission went badly wrong when the SEALs encountered a North Korean boat and opened fire on those aboard, killing several unarmed North Koreans. The story drew on roughly two dozen anonymous sources. FBI agents delivered the subpoena to Cole's New York City residence in February; finding him absent, they forwarded it to his lawyer.
Cole's attorney, David A. O'Neil, said his client "will defend press freedom and the First Amendment from this administration's brazen attacks on journalists, and he will honour his commitment to his sources." The Times called the demand that Cole identify his sources "another brazen and illegal attack from the administration designed to deny the public information of vital importance." The Justice Department, for its part, declined to address Cole's case specifically but stated it "will use all available legal tools to uncover those who unlawfully disclose national defence information."
The subpoena is the latest in a series of aggressive legal actions the Trump administration has taken against journalists. Earlier this month, several Times reporters were subpoenaed after covering security concerns surrounding the president's new Air Force One aircraft — subpoenas that were subsequently withdrawn. The Wall Street Journal and its reporters were also targeted in March over an article concerning Pentagon warnings related to US military operations in the Middle East. Standard Justice Department guidelines require that subpoenas against journalists be treated as a last resort, particularly when constitutional press protections are at stake.
Why this matters: Critics, including press freedom group the Committee to Protect Journalists, warn that the rising frequency of such legal actions risks having "a chilling effect" on journalism across the country. Democratic senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff this week demanded that the Justice Department explain its use of subpoenas against journalists, arguing that the actions appear driven by political anger at negative coverage rather than genuine security concerns. The First Amendment of the US Constitution provides broad protections for freedom of the press, and the subpoenas are facing mounting legal scrutiny.