Judge rebuffs Trump admin demand for phone records from NYT reporters
Judge rebuffs Trump admin demand for phone records from NYT reporters
法官驳回特朗普政府对《纽约时报》记者电话记录的索取要求
After criticism from a federal judge, the Department of Justice yesterday withdrew demands for phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times reporters who wrote about security concerns related to the Air Force One jet donated to Trump by Qatar. It was a setback in the Trump administration’s attempts to unmask journalists’ confidential sources. 在受到联邦法官的批评后，美国司法部昨日撤回了对《纽约时报》记者的电话记录和陪审团证词的索取要求。这些记者曾撰写过关于卡塔尔捐赠给特朗普的“空军一号”专机所涉及的安全隐患报道。这对特朗普政府试图揭露记者保密消息来源的企图是一次挫折。
US District Judge Arun Subramanian “grilled Justice Department lawyers for nearly an hour over their handling of the subpoenas” during a hearing on Thursday, The New York Times wrote. “Either we can quash the subpoenas, or you could withdraw the subpoenas,” Subramanian reportedly told Sean Buckley, chief counsel for the US attorney in New York’s southern district. 据《纽约时报》报道，美国联邦地区法官阿伦·苏布拉马尼安（Arun Subramanian）在周四的听证会上，“就司法部律师处理传票的方式对其进行了近一个小时的严厉质询”。据报道，苏布拉马尼安对纽约南区联邦检察官办公室首席法律顾问肖恩·巴克利（Sean Buckley）表示：“要么我们撤销传票，要么你们自行撤回传票。”
Subramanian reportedly said during the hearing that subpoenas to reporters “are not the first thing you do—they are the last thing you do,” and that “it’s a matter of basic compliance with the law.” Government lawyers agreed to withdraw the subpoenas during the hearing. 据报道，苏布拉马尼安在听证会上表示，针对记者的传票“不是你们应该做的第一件事，而是最后一件”，并强调“这是遵守法律的基本要求”。政府律师在听证会上同意撤回传票。
“As stated on the record during the July 23, 2026, hearing, the Government has voluntarily withdrawn the challenged subpoenas, including the subpoenas issued to the journalists as well as the third-party subpoenas. Those subpoenas are null and void. As a result, the motions to quash are moot,” Subramanian wrote in an order yesterday. 苏布拉马尼安在昨日的一份命令中写道：“正如2026年7月23日听证会记录中所述，政府已自愿撤回了受质疑的传票，包括发给记者的传票以及发给第三方的传票。这些传票现已作废。因此，撤销传票的动议已无实际意义。”
NYT: “Brazen effort to intimidate the press”
《纽约时报》：“恐吓新闻界的无耻行径”
The NYT reported on Monday that the US government sought phone and text messaging records of NYT journalists and their relatives, including one reporter’s mother and two reporters’ spouses. This was in addition to subpoenas demanding that reporters testify before a federal grand jury. 《纽约时报》周一报道称，美国政府寻求获取该报记者及其亲属的电话和短信记录，其中包括一名记者的母亲和两名记者的配偶。此外，政府还发出传票，要求记者在联邦大陪审团面前作证。
On July 15, the NYT filed a motion to quash the subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony. The motion called the demands “a brazen effort to intimidate the press into abandoning its critical, constitutionally protected role.” The motion said armed federal agents served the subpoenas at the journalists’ homes, ordering them to appear before a grand jury within three business days. 7月15日，《纽约时报》提交了一份动议，要求撤销寻求大陪审团证词的传票。该动议称这些要求是“恐吓新闻界，迫使其放弃宪法保护的关键作用的无耻行径”。动议指出，武装联邦特工在记者家中送达了传票，命令他们在三个工作日内出庭作证。
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation Director [Kash Patel] orchestrated this activity from within the White House, in close coordination with top Administration officials and in response to the President’s anger over the reporting,” the motion said. 动议称：“联邦调查局局长[卡什·帕特尔]在白宫内部策划了这一行动，与政府高层官员密切配合，以回应总统对相关报道的愤怒。”
Two days after this motion was filed, the government revealed in a call with NYT counsel that it also served subpoenas on phone providers for call records, according to a July 18 filing. In the newer filing, the NYT asked the court “to quash the newly-disclosed grand jury subpoenas served on third-party phone service providers on July 10, July 14, and July 16, 2026, for records associated with the Journalists.” 根据7月18日的一份文件，在该动议提交两天后，政府在与《纽约时报》律师的通话中透露，它还向电话服务提供商发出了获取通话记录的传票。在新的文件中，《纽约时报》请求法院“撤销于2026年7月10日、14日和16日向第三方电话服务提供商发出的、涉及记者相关记录的大陪审团传票”。
Trump admin lashes out at judge
特朗普政府抨击法官
During Subramanian’s questioning of DOJ lawyers, “the government acknowledged factual errors in its filings. It conceded that it had omitted significant information—including that the case pertained to journalists’ records—when it asked a different federal judge to prevent a phone company from disclosing a record request,” the NYT reported. 据《纽约时报》报道，在苏布拉马尼安质询司法部律师期间，“政府承认其文件中存在事实错误。它承认在要求另一位联邦法官阻止电话公司披露记录请求时，遗漏了重要信息——包括该案件涉及记者记录这一事实。”
Buckley had “argued that the nature of The Times’s reporting on sensitive national security matters had allowed for an exception to standard procedures,” but “he struggled to identify the precise legal rationale for that exception when the judge pressed him,” the NYT article said. 《纽约时报》文章称，巴克利曾“辩称《纽约时报》关于敏感国家安全问题的报道性质允许其偏离标准程序”，但“当法官追问时，他难以说明该例外的确切法律依据”。
Buckley apparently admitted that the subpoenas shouldn’t have sought phone records of reporters’ relatives. “Mr. Buckley also acknowledged that the phone record subpoenas had inadvertently encompassed relatives of the Times reporters—including the mother of one and the spouses of two others—calling it an error and ‘a consequence of trying to move quickly,’” the NYT wrote. 巴克利显然承认，传票不应寻求记者亲属的电话记录。《纽约时报》写道：“巴克利先生还承认，电话记录传票无意中涵盖了《纽约时报》记者的亲属——包括其中一人的母亲和另外两人的配偶——并称这是一个错误，是‘试图快速行动的结果’。”
The Trump administration lashed out at the judge after the hearing. “This judge threatened our attorneys with sanctions unless subpoenas were withdrawn, and blocked us from presenting the meticulous process of this investigation,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement provided to Ars today. 听证会后，特朗普政府对法官进行了抨击。司法部发言人在今天提供给Ars的一份声明中表示：“这位法官威胁我们的律师，如果不撤回传票就进行制裁，并阻止我们展示这项调查的严谨过程。”
“The grand jury has a right to hear testimony from all material witnesses in a federal criminal investigation,” the DOJ statement continued. “This judge’s conduct overrides clear longstanding principles and common sense—blocking the grand jury from receiving core evidence in a national security investigation. Make no mistake, this investigation remains ongoing, and we will pursue justice against those threatening national security by leaking classified information, a serious federal crime.” 司法部的声明继续说道：“大陪审团有权听取联邦刑事调查中所有重要证人的证词。这位法官的行为推翻了明确的长期原则和常识——阻碍了大陪审团在国家安全调查中获取核心证据。毫无疑问，这项调查仍在进行中，我们将对那些通过泄露机密信息（一种严重的联邦罪行）威胁国家安全的人追究法律责任。”
US previously seized Washington Post reporter’s devices
美国此前曾扣押《华盛顿邮报》记者设备
NYT newsroom lawyer David McCraw issued a statement calling the hearing “an important affirmation of our country’s commitment to a free press. We are pleased that the government finally conceded that the subpoenas violated the law, but they should never have been issued in the first place.” 《纽约时报》新闻编辑室律师大卫·麦克劳（David McCraw）发表声明，称此次听证会是“我国对新闻自由承诺的重要肯定。我们很高兴政府最终承认这些传票违反了法律，但它们本就不应该被签发。”
The NYT motion to quash said that after Trump accepted the Boeing jet from Qatar, “concerns were immediately raised about the ethical implications of accepting a $400 million gift from a foreign government, the costs to American taxpayers of retrofitting a commercial jet to serve as a ‘flying White House’—with all the necessary communications, security, and support capabilities—and the national security implications of using a foreign-donated aircraft for that purpose.” 《纽约时报》的撤销动议称，在特朗普接受卡塔尔赠送的波音专机后，“人们立即对接受外国政府4亿美元礼物的道德影响、美国纳税人为将商用喷气式飞机改装成‘飞行白宫’（具备所有必要的通信、安全和支持能力）所支付的成本，以及将外国捐赠的飞机用于此目的所带来的国家安全影响表示担忧。”
The NYT motion said the paper’s reporting on the topic “was manifestly in the public interest. It contributed to the public’s knowledge about the workings of the Executive Branch, the President’s dealings with foreign nations, and the safety of an aircraft that transports the President and many other public officials, reporters, and guests.” 《纽约时报》的动议称，该报对此话题的报道“显然符合公共利益。它有助于公众了解行政部门的运作、总统与外国的往来，以及运送总统及许多其他公职人员、记者和客人的飞机的安全性。”
In January, the FBI seized devices from a Washington Post reporter who had built up a contact list of 1,100 current and former government employees. 今年1月，联邦调查局扣押了一名《华盛顿邮报》记者的设备，该记者建立了一个包含1100名现任和前任政府雇员的联系人名单。