Reporter subpoenaed to testify in connection with 12-year-old article

Reporter Josh Margolin was subpoenaed to testify in New York, New York, on Aug. 9, 2024, in connection with a 2012 article he wrote about an alleged sexual assault.

In the underlying case, Petra Beter filed a civil action in federal court under New York’s Adult Survivors Act against a man she alleged sexually assaulted her in 2001. At the time, the man was working as a strategist for the mayoral campaign of Michael Bloomberg.

Margolin’s 2012 article, for the New York Post, named Beter and painted an unflattering picture of her and her relations with Bloomberg’s staff in connection with the alleged assault, according to court documents. Beter stated in court filings that the article was retracted, and it does not appear to be currently available on the Post’s website.

Margolin received two subpoenas in August 2024 from Beter: one for documents and one for testimony. The document subpoena demanded that Margolin turn over “any and all” documents related to Beter’s complaint, as well as a broad range of documents, records and communications related to his 2012 story.

Those included materials related to communications with Beter; staff at the Post and its parent company, News Corp; attorneys for News Corp; staff at Margolin’s current employer, ABC News; Bloomberg, his staff and his attorneys; and Margolin’s wife.

In an objection filed Sept. 5, 2024, Margolin’s attorney, Laura Handman, wrote that Beter was “furious” about the 2012 story, and “has fostered a years-long vendetta against him and others she associates with the story” — including filing a 2017 defamation lawsuit, later dismissed, against Margolin, the Post and News Corp.

Handman argued that the document request was “an unduly burdensome attempt to harass” Margolin and his family. She said that it sought core newsgathering material that is protected by the reporter’s privilege — including New York’s Shield Law — as well as privileged attorney-client communications.

In a Sept. 10 filing opposing the objection, Beter countered that Margolin had information critical to her case.

Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky on Sept. 13 granted in part Margolin’s motion to set aside the subpoenas. She ruled that Margolin did not have to comply with the legal orders as they related to his work as a reporter or the 2017 defamation lawsuit.

But Tarnofsky also ordered Margolin to provide a log of all privileged attorney-client communications from around the time of the 2012 Post article.

On Sept. 27, in response to the judge’s request, Handman told Tarnofsky that Margolin searched documents in his possession and did not identify any attorney-client communications around that time.

Margolin did not respond to a request for comment.