IC Oversight & Authorities — 2026-05-13

DOJ Subpoenas Wall Street Journal Reporters in Escalating Iran War Leak Investigation

The Wall Street Journal said Monday it received grand jury subpoenas on March 4 demanding reporters' records related to its February 23 article reporting that Gen. Dan Caine and other Pentagon officials had warned President Trump about the risks of an extended Iran campaign. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told CBS News that prosecuting leakers who share classified information with reporters is "a priority for this administration" and that any witness with relevant information "should not be surprised" to receive a subpoena. A DOJ official told CBS News the subpoenas target government employees who leaked, not the journalists themselves. Dow Jones chief communications officer Ashok Sinha called the subpoenas "an attack on constitutionally protected newsgathering" and said the paper will "vigorously oppose" them.

Analysis
The subpoena of Wall Street Journal reporters marks a deliberate pattern, not an isolated incident, in the administration's effort to close the legal distance between classified leakers and the journalists who publish their material. Acting AG Blanche's public framing of leaker prosecution as a priority functions as a warning to executive branch sources broadly, not merely a defense of this investigation. The April 2025 Bondi's memo stripped the procedural protections Garland had extended to journalists. The FBI's earlier seizure of a Washington Post reporter's devices then established that the enforcement machinery is operational. We assess it likely that, through the end of 2026, the administration will deploy additional subpoenas or search warrants against reporters covering the Iran campaign or related national security matters. Federal courts and residual bipartisan concern for press freedom remain as limiting factors, but neither has yet forced a reversal.
3 sources
  1. Justice Dept. subpoenas Wall Street Journal, escalating investigations into media leaks - The Washington Post
  2. DOJ subpoenas Wall Street Journal over Iran war leaks - The Hill
  3. Justice Department defends decision to subpoena Wall Street Journal reporters, citing national security - CBS News

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UNCLASSIFIED // OPEN SOURCE