There’s going to be a meltdown over this, coupled with thought pieces about how we’re marching toward authoritarianism under Donald Trump. What else is new? The Trump Justice Department announced that they’re nixing a Biden-era policy regarding reporters, which will likely become red meat for the likes of MSNBC: they’re going to restart subpoenaing reporters to smoke out leakers (via Axios):
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday she is resuming the practice of attempting to seize reporters' phone records in order to smoke out leakers.
Why it matters: It is a complete reversal of the policy that former President Biden and former Attorney General Merrick Garland put in place restricting subpoenas of reporters' news-gathering materials.
"This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop," Bondi, referring to recent administration leaks, wrote in an internal memo obtained by Axios.
"I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland's policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks," she wrote.
The big picture: Bondi's announcement comes as her office prepares to investigate at least three suspected leakers referred Wednesday by National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
It is what it is. Before the liberal media throws a fit and frames this as an unprecedented move, the Obama administration was also Nixonian on leakers, spied on reporters, and, yes, seized the phone records of at least a dozen Associated Press reporters, so spare us the indignation