SDNY Admits Procedural Failures in NYT Leak Investigation as DOJ Seeks Two-Week Abeyance While Clayton DNI Testimony Questioned

In an overnight filing in the SDNY leak investigation targeting New York Times reporters over Air Force One coverage, the Justice Department conceded procedural errors and asked to hold five grand jury subpoenas in abeyance for two weeks while it pursues additional investigative steps 12. Deputy US Attorney Sean Buckley acknowledged in a six-page response that the government had not shown, before issuing the subpoenas, that the sought information was unavailable elsewhere as required under Second Circuit reporter's-privilege precedent 12. The filing also confirmed that federal prosecutors served phone-record subpoenas on relatives of the reporters, including a mother described as a mental health professional and two spouses, one a law firm general counsel, attributing the misdirected demands to a law enforcement database error 123. Prosecutors additionally admitted obtaining a nondisclosure order from a magistrate judge based on an assertion that the investigation was "not public," which the filing later called an oversight, and NYT attorney David O'Neil argued the errors call into question DNI nominee Jay Clayton's July 15 Senate testimony that DOJ procedures protecting journalists "were followed" 1. A hearing before Judge Arun Subramanian is scheduled for Thursday 3.