Reporter subpoenaed for witness testimony in Idaho case

May 10, 2021
Idaho reporter Nate Eaton was subpoenaed on May 10, 2021, to give witness testimony as part of a conspiracy case relating to the deaths of two children that he’s covered extensively.The news director at the local website EastIdahoNews.com, Eaton has been covering the case of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, who are on trial for altering evidence in relation to the killings of Vallow's two children whose remains were found on Daybell's property, according to the site’s news reports.Eaton posted …

Dakota Pipeline operator subpoenas Unicorn Riot over coverage of demonstrations

March 17, 2021
Unicorn Riot and its reporter Niko Georgiades were subpoenaed on March 17, 2021, by Energy Transfer LP, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, for all documents and communications relating to the nonprofit media organization’s coverage of the pipeline project.The subpoenas are part of the pipeline company’s legal effort against several environmental groups, including Greenpeace, and activists that protested against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017, according to The Intercept and other outlets.Energy Transfer demanded all documents including video and …

Dakota Pipeline operator subpoenas Unicorn Riot reporter over coverage of demonstrations

March 17, 2021
Unicorn Riot and its reporter Niko Georgiades were subpoenaed on March 17, 2021, by Energy Transfer LP, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, for all documents and communications relating to the nonprofit media organization’s coverage of the pipeline project.The subpoenas are part of the pipeline company’s legal effort against several environmental groups, including Greenpeace, and activists that protested against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017, according to The Intercept and other outlets.Energy Transfer demanded all documents including video and …

New York federal court quashes subpoena of legal news site Above the Law

February 1, 2021
Legal news site Above the Law's publisher, Breaking Media Inc., was subpoenaed on Feb. 1, 2021, amid a trade-secrets dispute between a legal recruiting firm and a former employee, but a New York federal court quashed the subpoena, saying it would be unduly burdensome to the media company.The suit was brought by legal recruiting firm MWK Recruiting Inc. against former Breaking Media employee Evan Jowers. MWK alleged Jowers "misappropriated trade secrets and breached the non-compete and non-solicitation provisions of his …

Reporter for Tampa Bay Times subpoenaed following investigative report

December 22, 2020
On Dec. 22, 2020, Bethany Barnes, an investigative reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, said she was subpoenaed by GardaWorld, a security services company, for documents relating to a series of investigative reports that revealed irregularities in maintenance and safety protocols at the company.The subpoena was issued in connection to a 2017 lawsuit by GardaWorld in Manatee County, Florida, against the company’s former director of risk management, Christine Bouquin, whom Garda has accused of stealing company records. According to the …

WCAX-TV subpoenaed in Vermont criminal trial

December 20, 2020
On Dec. 22, 2020, CBS-affiliate station WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vermont, was subpoenaed by the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office in connection with an interview the channel conducted with William Dunn, a man charged with aggravated assault in a December stabbing incident.In the video clip, published Dec. 10 on the station’s website, WCAX-TV reporter Christina Guessferd summarizes the case and uses clips from her interview with Dunn. In her report, Guessferd says Dunn told her he acted in self-defense, after his …

Multimedia journalist subpoenaed by grand jury

December 9, 2020
Tina MacIntyre-Yee, a multimedia journalist at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York, was called to testify before a grand jury on Dec. 16, 2020, according to an article from her employer, which MacIntyre-Yee verified to the Committee to Protect Journalists.The journalist said that she complied with the subpoena, though did not offer compromising material about her sources.MacIntyre-Yee has reported on recent civil unrest in Rochester that followed both the death of Goerge Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis …

ICE drops subpoena around BuzzFeed News story on Trump administration deportation policy

December 1, 2020
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said on Dec. 9, 2020, that it would not enforce a subpoena issued to BuzzFeed News the previous week. ICE’s subpoena had sought information BuzzFeed gathered in reporting a story on deportation policy.BuzzFeed’s article, published on Oct. 7, divulged the contents of emails and a memo about ICE plans to implement a Trump administration policy significantly expanding fast-track deportations of undocumented immigrants. The expanded deportation policy was initially blocked in 2019 by a …
More Incidents