Several New York Times reporters were issued subpoenas after the news outlet reported on security concerns and a lack of security features surrounding the new Air Force One plane.
Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt were among the reporters who received subpoenas, the New York Times reported. The subpoenas come after the outlet reported on Wednesday regarding President Donald Trump leaving Turkey “on the old Air Force One” over security concerns.
Prior to the publication of the article, an official with the Federal Bureau of Investigation requested that the outlet hold the article, “calling it an issue of national security.” In another article on Thursday, the outlet also reported that the new Air Force One “lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft,” according to the outlet:
The Times journalists who received subpoenas included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt, who reported on Wednesday that Mr. Trump had departed Turkey on the old Air Force One as a security precaution at the urging of the Secret Service. On Thursday, the Times reported that the new Air Force One, a Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities. Both articles cited sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.
Before the Wednesday article was published, a senior official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted the Times to ask that the article be held, calling it an issue of national security, according to a person familiar with the conversation. The F.B.I. official spoke with a reporter and a senior editor in the Times‘s Washington bureau; the official declined to explain the security issue when asked. (A spokesman for the Times, Charlie Stadtlander, confirmed the account.)
The subpoenas to the journalists reportedly ask them to testify regarding “an alleged violation of federal criminal law.”
Breitbart News’s Nick Gilbertson reported in June that Trump unveiled the new Air Force One plane, which Qatar gifted to the United States. Boeing is reported to be “working on two presidential planes commissioned in a 2018 contract” during his first term:
Trump noted that the entire fleet of federal planes will have the same color scheme. Boeing is working on two presidential planes commissioned in a 2018 contract during Trump’s first term. The planes are expected to be operational in 2028.
Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Boeing last year for failing to complete the planes by 2024 and 2025 as initially scheduled.
People with knowledge regarding Trump leaving Turkey on the old Air Force One plane explained that “the change came at the urging of the Secret Service,” according to the New York Times‘s Wednesday article.
While White House Communications Director Steven Cheung described the new Air Force One as being a “state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols,” he explained that “every tool” available is used to address threats against the president.
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