AG Garland Bars Feds From Seizing Reporters' Records

Justice Department and FBI investigators will be barred from seizing materials from reporters and news outlets except in extreme circumstances under a new policy announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“The Department of Justice will no longer use compulsory legal process for the purpose of obtaining information from, or records of, members of the news media acting within the scope of newsgathering activities,” Garland said in a memo Monday describing the policy.

It came in response to revelations that Justice Department officials during the Trump administration had seized or tried to seize phone records and other communications metadata for reporters with the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post as part of an investigation into leaks to the media.

The Trump administration also seized records from at least two House Democrats, their staff and family members, and then-White House counsel Donald McGahn.

The revelations represented an early public relations and political crisis for President Joe Biden’s administration. The president vowed not to repeat his predecessor’s actions, but the administration hadn’t yet fleshed out a specific policy.

Garland’s policy creates a new standard for how the Justice Department will handle investigations that involve news outlets and reporters, restricting orders that compel companies to hand over records except in rare circumstances.