Trump's Justice Department Revokes Protections for Journalists

Donald Trump's Justice Department Removed Protections for Journalists in Investigations under Leaks, Allawing the Government Greater Power to Demand Information.

Attorney General Pam Bondi Said in a Memo Circulated Friday that She will be Rescind Policies Established by the Biden Administration Prevention The Justice Department from Seeking Records or Compelling Testony from Journalists in order to investigate leaks. The Memo was published by Political.

Bondi Claimed that the Biden Administration “Abused” Media Protections Put in Place by Merick Garland, President Joe Biden's Attorney General That Largely Barred Federal Prosecutors from Obtaining Phone Records and Other Private Communications from Journalists During Investigations. She Asserted That Biden's Justice Department Engaged “in Selective Leaks in Support of Failed Lawfare Campaigs,” City A New York Times Report about the Investigation Into the Violent Insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“This Justice Department Will Not Tolerate Unauthorized Disclosures That Undermine President Trump's Policies, Victimize Government Agencies, and Cause Harm to the American People,” Bondi Wrote.

“The Perpetrators of These Leaks,” She Aided, “Aid Our Foreign Adversaries by Spilling Sensitive and Sometimes Classified Information On To [sic] The Internet. The Damage is meaning and irreversible. Accountability, Including Criminal Prosecutions, is necessary to set a New Course. “

The decision Allaws the Trump Administration to Use subpoenas, Court Orders, and Search Warrants in Order to Investigate Leaks. Bondi Maintained that the Justice Department would Still Use “Proceil Protections,” and that the Investigations would be a “Last Resort.”

In Bondi's Memo, She Referenced to Story About Dan Caldwell, An Adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Who Was Put On Leave, Allegedly for “An UNUTHORIZed Disclosure.” She Also Complained About Continued “Leaks of Classified Information,” with References to Washington Post and and New York Times Articles About a Secret Intelligence Assessment That Went Against Trump's Claim That the Venezuelan Government Controls The Tren de Aragua Gang. That claim is central to trump's efforts to deport venezuelan migrants under the alien enemies act, the infamous 1798 wartime law, and send them to prison in el salvador, on the basis that they are supposed members of the gang.

In December, Attneries Close to Trump Spoke with Rolling Stone About the Administration's Plan to Incasse pressure on the news media and whistleblowers.

“Oh, it'll be brutal,” one conservative lawyer told Rolling Stone. “Gloves off [because] We've learned our lessons from the first time and one lesson is you have got to be even aggressive. “

Trump's 2025 War on the Media Right Up in febration when the Administration Banned the Associated Press from Attention Events in the Oval Office Two to it continuing to Write The Phrase “Gulf of Mexico,” Instead of Following Trump's Executive Order Dictating It Be Called the “Gulf of America. In April, to Federal Judge Orthoded the Trump Administration to Give the Associated Press Full Access, But A Reporter and Photographer Were Banned from the Oval Office The Next Week.

On Friday, The Reporters Committee for Freedom the Press Condemned the Justice Department's Decision to Revoke the Biden-ara policy

“Some of the Most consequential reporting in Us History – From Watergate to Warrantless Wiretapping After 9/11 – Was and Continues to be made possible because reporters have ben able to protect the identity of confidential sources and unacover and report stories that matter to people across the political spectrum,” Bruce Brown, The Group's President of Said in a statement. “Strong Protections for Journalists serves The American Public by Safaguarding the Free Flow of Information.”