Justice Dept. Subpoenas NYT Freelancer in Leak Probe

The U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed Matthew Cole, a freelance journalist who co-wrote a New York Times investigation into a failed Navy SEAL mission in North Korea, demanding that he reveal the sources behind his reporting. The previously undisclosed subpoena was issued in February by federal prosecutors in Newport News, Virginia, and served by FBI agents at Cole’s home in New York, according to The Guardian. Prosecutors are seeking more than two years of his contacts, notes and grand jury testimony, The Straits Times reported.

Context

The case centers on a Sept. 5, 2025, investigation titled “How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart,” co-written by Cole and Times correspondent Dave Philipps. According to NPR, the article described a mission personally authorized by President Donald Trump in early 2019, in which SEAL Team 6 attempted to plant an intelligence listening device near the North Korean coast. The operation fell apart when the SEALs opened fire on a small boat, killing an estimated two to three unarmed North Koreans who appeared to be civilians diving for shellfish. Philipps told NPR that Congress was not informed about the mission until the Biden administration. The reporting relied on roughly two dozen anonymous sources—precisely the sourcing the Justice Department now wants Cole to expose.

Key Developments

The Times said it is paying for Cole’s legal representation. In a statement, Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said the newspaper supports Cole’s decision to make public a subpoena the government had attempted to keep secret. “It is part of the government’s escalating attacks on journalists, which should concern all Americans,” Stadtlander said. “The demand that he disclose his sources is another brazen and illegal attack from the administration designed to deny the public information of vital importance.”

Cole’s lawyer, David A. O’Neil, a former senior federal prosecutor, said Cole “will not be intimidated” and “will defend press freedom and the first amendment from this administration’s brazen attacks on journalists.”

Broader Crackdown

The subpoena is the latest escalation in the administration’s leak investigations. Last month, the Justice Department served subpoenas on three New York Times reporters after they reported on security concerns about President Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One. The Associated Press reported that the moves marked “a dramatic escalation” of Trump’s campaign against the media and drew condemnation from press freedom groups. The government later withdrew those subpoenas after the Times filed a motion to quash and a federal judge sharply questioned prosecutors.

The AP also reported that FBI agents searched the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson in January as part of a leak investigation, and that in April 2025 then-Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded a Biden-era policy that had protected journalists from secret seizures of their phone records.

Analysis & Implications

Administration officials say they are targeting leakers, not journalists. “We’re not after journalists. We’re after leakers,” Trump told reporters. The Justice Department has said it values the press but will not stop investigating those who leak classified national security information.

Press freedom advocates argue that demanding a journalist reveal his sources crosses a fundamental line. Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the AP that Trump’s “war on the press is looking for another victim,” and that such subpoenas “break from longstanding Justice Department practice to protect the public interest and press independence by requiring prosecutors to only seek information from reporters as a last resort.” While the government has periodically seized journalists’ phone records, compelling a reporter to testify about sources before a grand jury remains extremely rare—and the Cole subpoena goes further than many previous actions.

What’s Next

Cole has said through his lawyer that he will not be intimidated, and the Times is backing his legal fight. The withdrawal of the Air Force One subpoenas after court challenges offers one possible path: public pressure and judicial scrutiny could force the Justice Department to back down. The question now is whether prosecutors will press their demand for Cole’s sources—and what that will mean for journalists, whistleblowers and the public’s right to know.