\r\n
May 12, 2026 | Acting attorney general defends DOJ subpoenas to WSJ, others
\r\nApril 7, 2026 | Acting attorney general willing to subpoena journalists in leak investigations
As President Donald Trump’s second term continued in 2026, he removed Pam Bondi as attorney general. Her deputy, now acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, joined Trump in efforts to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration critically. We’re documenting Blanche’s efforts in this regularly updated report.
Read about how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more here.
This article was first published on May 15, 2026.
\r\n
May 12, 2026 | Acting attorney general defends DOJ subpoenas to WSJ, others
\r\nApril 7, 2026 | Acting attorney general willing to subpoena journalists in leak investigations
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the issuing of federal subpoenas to The Wall Street Journal as part of a leak investigation, after the legal orders were made public on May 11, 2026.
In a May 12 social media post, Blanche wrote, “Prosecuting leakers who share our nation’s secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration.
“Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material,” he continued.
A Justice Department official emphasized to CBS News the same day that the subpoenas were issued as part of an investigation into the source behind the leaks, not the journalists themselves.
Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the subpoenas and the use of “national security” as justification.
“These subpoenas are a direct threat to the public’s right to know, and the Journal is correct to fight them,” FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said. “Since the Department of Justice has abandoned the First Amendment, it’s up to the courts to restrain the government’s attempts to crush investigative journalism.”
The subpoenas to the Journal are just the latest instance of the news media being caught up in or deliberately targeted in federal investigations since then-Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded Biden-era protections for journalists in April 2025.
Earlier this year, the DOJ subpoenaed The Washington Post, and the FBI executed a search warrant at the home of its reporter, Hannah Natanson, seizing her equipment. Independent photojournalist Robert Scherle was questioned by two FBI agents at his home seeking information about protesters. And FBI Director Kash Patel has reportedly ordered investigations into two reporters following unfavorable coverage.
During his first press briefing as acting attorney general on April 7, 2026, Todd Blanche said he would not hesitate to subpoena members of the press to uncover sources behind leaks of classified information.
The previous day, President Donald Trump vowed to investigate the source behind a leak concerning the downing of a U.S. fighter jet by Iran.
“We’re going to go to the media company that released it,” Trump said, “and we’re going to say, ‘National security — give it up or go to jail.’”
When asked about Trump’s comments, Blanche said that classified information leaks will always be investigated.
“If that means sending a subpoena to the reporter, that’s exactly what we should do, and that’s exactly what we will be doing,” Blanche said. “If it means doing regular investigations to identify who within the government feels like it’s OK to leak classified information, to put lives at risk, then we’ll try to root him or her out as well.”
\r\n
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche at a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"District of Columbia","abbreviation":"DC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["Media"],"tags":["Department of Justice"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"FBI Director Kash Patel targets press","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-director-kash-patel-targets-press/","first_published_at":"2026-04-20T19:46:25.941424Z","last_published_at":"2026-05-13T14:36:25.863121Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-05-13T14:36:25.747055Z","date":"2026-05-07","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"As President Donald Trump’s second term continued in 2026, his FBI director, Kash Patel, took steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration critically. We’re documenting Patel’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.
Also read about Patel’s efforts in 2025, and how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more.
This article was first published on April 20, 2026.
\r\n
May 7, 2026 | Patel orders polygraphs for his security detail, other staff (updated)
\r\nMay 6, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s alleged excess drinking (updated)
\r\nApril 20, 2026 | Patel sues The Atlantic for defamation
\r\nFeb. 28, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s girlfriend
FBI Director Kash Patel has ordered polygraphs for more than two dozen members of his security detail and other staff as part of his quest to unmask those who’ve spoken with the press, MS NOW reported on May 7, 2026.
Following an April 17 article by Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick on Patel’s alleged excessive drinking, erratic behavior and absences from the agency’s headquarters, the FBI director has sued the magazine and Fitzpatrick, and opened an investigation into her.
According to MS NOW, Patel has also isolated himself from some senior bureau leaders. FBI spokesman Ben Williamson disputed those claims, telling MS NOW Patel has been regularly meeting with operational leaders. Williamson declined to comment, however, on whether Patel ordered polygraphs.
During a hearing before the U.S. Senate on May 12, Patel vehemently denied allegations about his conduct and that he had subordinates sit for polygraph examinations over the recent reports. “I don’t order any polygraph tests,” he insisted.
The New York Times reported that multiple people familiar with recent polygraphs and internal investigations said that they were ordered by the director.
Patel had previously announced the use of polygraphs to identify the sources behind leaks to the media in April 2025, and similar efforts have been undertaken by other agency heads.
The FBI is conducting a criminal leak investigation focused on Atlantic journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick, MS NOW reported on May 6, 2026, following her exclusive reporting on Director Kash Patel’s alleged excessive drinking, erratic behavior and absences from the agency’s headquarters.
Fitzpatrick’s article, published April 17, reported that Patel’s conduct on the job has included “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” and that more than two dozen sources, including current and former FBI officials, “described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability.”
Patel sued The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick for defamation April 20, claiming that the article’s allegations were “designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” and demanding $250 million in damages.
MS NOW reported that two sources close to the matter confirmed that an investigation focusing on Fitzpatrick was underway, but during a hearing before the U.S. Senate on May 12, Patel vehemently denied its existence.
“I can tell you unequivocally, this FBI is targeting and investigating no journalists,” Patel said.
Such an investigation could enable federal agents to obtain her phone records, examine her social media networks and run her name through the bureau’s databases.
In an email to subscribers, Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that such an investigation, if true, would be disturbing. But, he added, the magazine will defend itself and its staff vigorously.
“We will not be intimidated by illegitimate investigations or other acts of politically motivated retaliation; we will continue to cover the FBI professionally, fairly, and thoroughly; and we will continue to practice journalism in the public interest,” Goldberg continued.
“This isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve faced extraordinary government pressure, and Trump-administration calumny, before. We live in a period in which some media organizations buckle under government pressure. I promise you that we will never give in. If a story is true, we will publish it.”
Attorneys for FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic and its reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, on April 20, 2026, accusing them of defaming him in an article about Patel’s alleged erratic behavior and poor job performance.
Fitzpatrick’s article, published April 17, reported that Patel’s conduct on the job has included “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” and that more than two dozen sources, including current and former FBI officials, “described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability.”
Patel’s lack of availability has exacerbated bureaucratic delays at the FBI, Fitzpatrick reported, and his alleged excessive drinking may have led to his sharing inaccurate information about active law enforcement investigations.
Fitzpatrick quoted a statement from the FBI, attributed to Patel, responding to her list of questions: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook.”
The day the article was published, Patel’s attorney Jesse Binnall posted a letter on social platform X that he said he had sent to The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick, alleging that Fitzpatrick’s questions had contained false claims and threatening legal action if those claims were published.
Three days later, Patel’s attorneys filed their complaint in federal court for defamation, claiming that the article’s allegations were “designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” and that the article’s publication was done with “actual malice,” and demanded $250 million in damages.
“The statements,” the complaint argued, “falsely assert that the Director of the FBI—the nation’s chief federal law-enforcement officer—is a habitual drunk, unable to perform the duties of his office, is a threat to public safety, is vulnerable to foreign coercion, has violated DOJ ethics rules, is unreachable in emergencies, has required the deployment of ‘breaching equipment’ to extract him from locked rooms, allows alcohol to influence his public statements about criminal investigations, and behaves erratically in a manner that compromises national security.”
The Atlantic responded to the suit on X, writing: “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.”
The FBI investigated New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she published a report on Feb. 28, 2026, that the agency’s director, Kash Patel, had provided unprecedented transportation and security resources for his girlfriend.
FBI agents searched databases for information on Williamson and recommended further investigation to determine whether she had broken federal stalking laws while reporting the story, the Times reported April 22.
Justice Department officials, however, “determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation,” and the FBI dropped the case.
Williamson had reported that Patel’s girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, has been assigned an escort of SWAT personnel and that “Mr. Patel’s demand that rotating SWAT teams provide his girlfriend with security for singing appearances, personal engagements and errands is unprecedented in the F.B.I.”
The day the article was published, Wilkins received a threatening, anonymous email, which she forwarded to the FBI, the Times wrote. The email’s alleged sender was later criminally prosecuted and said they had sent the email after reading Williamson’s article, according to an affidavit in the case.
The FBI then interviewed Wilkins, who said she felt “harassed” by Williamson’s reporting, which had involved reaching out to numerous people who knew her. Agents then launched the investigation into Williamson, citing laws against stalking and threats as justification.
Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn called the investigation “alarming,” telling the paper, “The F.B.I.’s attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth’s First Amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions.”
\r\n
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"District of Columbia","abbreviation":"DC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["The Atlantic"],"tags":["Department of Justice","Donald Trump"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":["Sarah Fitzpatrick (The Atlantic)","Elizabeth Williamson (The New York Times)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]}]