DOJ Subpoenas NYT Journalist in North Korea Leak Probe
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- The Justice Department subpoenaed freelance NYT journalist Matthew Cole in February, with Virginia prosecutors seeking more than two years of his notes and testimony in a national security leak investigation.
- The probe targets the sourcing of a 2025 NYT story about a botched early-2019 Navy SEAL mission that killed several unarmed North Koreans while attempting to plant a listening device near the country's coast, a report that cited two dozen unnamed sources.
- NYT spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander backed Cole's decision to publicly disclose the subpoena, calling it "another brazen and illegal attack from the administration designed to deny the public information of vital importance."
- A DOJ spokesperson declined to address Cole's case directly but said the department "will use all available legal tools to uncover those who unlawfully disclose national defence information."
- The New York Times is paying for Cole's legal representation; his attorney David A. O'Neil said Cole "will not be intimidated by efforts to suppress information that the administration considers unflattering."
Why it matters: The subpoena escalates the Justice Department's pursuit of journalists' sources in national security leak cases, with prosecutors demanding two years of a reporter's notes and testimony. The Times is both footing the legal bill and going public—a posture that puts the press-freedom clash with the administration directly in the open.
