Washington, D.C., July 13, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Senate Judiciary Committee members to hold acting Attorney General Todd Blanche accountable by asking about anti-press actions at the Department of Justice during his confirmation hearings this week.
On July 10, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued federal grand jury subpoenas for New York Times reporters who wrote about security concerns in connection with President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One. The subpoenas seek to compel the journalists to testify on July 15, the same day as Blanche’s first confirmation hearing. United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton issued the subpoenas and faces a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday for his nomination to serve as director of national intelligence.
“The Justice Department has weaponized its authorities to silence journalists for reporting on the administration,” said José Zamora, CPJ’s regional director for the Americas. “Acting AG Blanche must answer for his role in these press freedom violations and reaffirm the Department’s commitment to uphold the rule of law and First Amendment protections.”
Blanche has served as acting attorney general since April and was confirmed as deputy attorney general in March 2025. Under Blanche’s tenure in the second Trump administration, CPJ has documented a broad pattern of unprecedented retaliation and intimidation of journalists from the DOJ. Such actions included rescinding policies for source protection, issuing previous grand jury subpoenas to reporters for their reporting on the Iran war, searching a journalist’s home and seizing devices, arresting and charging journalists with federal felonies, and restricting press access to immigration courts.
Despite repeated calls from CPJ and more press freedom advocates, the DOJ has failed to launch criminal investigations to pursue justice and accountability in incidents involving the targeting of U.S. journalists by the Israeli Defense Forces in recent years. The Department has never publicly announced any investigation into the targeted killingof American citizen Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 in the West Bank, nor the wounding of American citizen Dylan Collins in 2023 in Lebanon. Under the DOJ, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened investigations into journalists at the New York Times and The Atlantic after their reporting on Director Kash Patel’s alleged behavior.
CPJ has endorsed the Privacy Protection Updates Act, which was introduced in March to bolster safeguards against searches of journalistic material. The DOJ ignored the original Privacy Protection Act of 1980 when the FBI raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her devices in January.