Trump administration subpoenas New York Times reporters over Air Force One security report

According to CNBC, the Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several New York Times journalists following the paper’s reporting on security concerns involving the new Air Force One, a jet President Donald Trump received as a gift from Qatar that entered service last week. The subpoenas seek to compel the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday, and federal agents delivered some of the subpoenas to reporters’ homes, the paper said.

The Times reported that Trump switched aircraft during a trip that included a NATO summit in Turkey and travel to Mildenhall in England, with both the older and newer Air Force One jets flying to Mildenhall before he returned to Joint Base Andrews on the newer plane. The paper cited anonymous sources in reporting that the switch came at the Secret Service’s urging and that the newer plane lacked some advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities; it also said the jet underwent a $400 million retrofit. Trump denied security concerns at the time, and the White House later said the new aircraft is state-of-the-art and fitted with high-level security protocols. The journalists named as receiving subpoenas included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt.