Chicago police officers subpoena CBS News for reporting materials

CBS News was subpoenaed by police officers named as defendants in a federal civil rights lawsuit in Chicago, Illinois, on Nov. 5, 2020, seeking extensive reporting materials related to the network’s “Whistleblower” documentary series.

The subpoena was voluntarily withdrawn and dismissed on Feb. 4, 2021, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

The subpoena sought “any and all tape or digital footage,” including raw and unedited video as well as audio recordings, transcripts, interview notes, photographs and other media related to the May 2019 episode, “Chicago PD: Breaking the Code of Silence.”

The episode examined corruption within the Chicago Police Department and featured interviews with whistleblowers. It focused on Sgt. Ronald Watts and Officer Kallatt Mohammed, who both pleaded guilty to federal charges of stealing money from an FBI informant, court records show.

The case led to a wave of civil rights lawsuits from dozens of people who said they were falsely arrested or framed by Watts and his team of officers, which were later consolidated into a single, federal lawsuit.

CBS moved to strike down the subpoena Dec. 11, arguing in federal court in New York — where the broadcaster is headquartered — that the legal order sought newsgathering materials protected by the reporter’s privilege established by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The very purpose of the reporter’s privilege is to promote the flow of newsworthy information to the public,” CBS attorney Jay Ward Brown wrote. “The public has a particularly strong interest in protecting the flow of information on key matters of public concern—such as wrongdoing in one of the country’s largest police departments.”

Brown argued the officers failed to meet the legal standard required to overcome the reporter’s privilege and that they sought them from CBS, a third party, before deposing the dozens of plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit.

“They simply seek—without rhyme, without reason—everything that CBS News possesses relating to the report,” wrote Brown, calling the subpoena “a classic fishing expedition.”

The lawsuit was eventually settled for $90 million, and the case was closed Nov. 19, 2025, records show.