Trump Appoints Will Scharf as White House Counsel
President Trump appointed his former personal lawyer Will Scharf as White House counsel, according to White House correspondent Maggie Haberman, amid an escalating legal confrontation involving federal subpoenas served to journalists. The administration faces a federal court challenge from The New York Times regarding grand jury demands for reporter records and family phone logs tied to national security reporting.
Legal Battlelines in Manhattan Federal Court
The New York Times argued in a federal court hearing in Manhattan that the Trump administration is abusing the justice system to fish for reporters’ sources. The legal dispute centers on reporting regarding security concerns surrounding a new Air Force One jet gifted by the Qatari government. According to filings from the newspaper’s legal team, led by David A. O’Neil of Debevoise & Plimpton, the government’s actions violate basic First Amendment protections for newsgathering activity.
“The Government’s actions violate the most basic First Amendment protections for newsgathering activity,” the Times legal team wrote in filings. “They represent the latest salvo in an escalating series of attacks on journalists to intimidate them from engaging in reporting that the Trump Administration openly detests.”
The newspaper contends the administration aims to deter intense coverage of the president. Conversely, the U.S. Justice Department insists it acted properly to preserve national security by seeking the source of a security breach rather than interfering with reporting. “Any subpoena issued by the Department of Justice is done so in full compliance with federal law and internal Department policy,” the Justice Department stated. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, the chief federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, testified in the Senate that he followed all appropriate policies to limit intrusions into the press.
FBI Involvement and Grand Jury Subpoenas
Customary protocols dictate that the FBI delivers subpoenas for reporters’ testimony directly to news organizations for legal review. In this instance, however, agents approached several reporters’ homes on the night of Friday, July 10, with grand jury subpoenas just two days after the first story was published. The Department of Justice pursued records covering five reporters and multiple family members.
“When something like this happens, it’s very frightening,” said Katherine Marsh, the wife of Times reporter Julian E. Barnes. “You almost feel like you’re being treated as an enemy of the state and we’re just reporters and reporters’ families.”
The New York Times pointed to its subsequent reporting that FBI Director Kash Patel personally oversaw the issuing of the subpoenas while at the White House. The newspaper’s filings argue this orchestration demonstrates bad faith motivations behind the administration’s actions. The paper sought to convince U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian to quash the subpoenas during the federal court hearing.