Bondi's April 25 memo lets DOJ subpoena reporters and seize their source records

On April 25, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum rescinding a Biden-era DOJ policy that protected journalists from government subpoenas and seizures of their records. The Biden policy — put in place by AG Merrick Garland in July 2021, after public outrage over Trump's first-term seizures of reporter records at the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN — had barred DOJ from forcing journalists to testify or hand over their materials in leak investigations. Bondi's memo reversed that protection entirely.

Under Bondi's new policy, DOJ can use subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders to compel testimony and obtain records from journalists. The department requires advance notice to reporters and approval from DOJ leadership before any such action, but those procedural requirements do not limit which reporters can be targeted. Bondi framed leaks as a national security threat, stating that illegal disclosures "jeopardize the DOJ's ability to uphold the rule of law, protect civil rights, and keep America safe."

Press freedom organizations condemned the reversal. Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, warned that "some of the most consequential reporting in U.S. history — from Watergate to warrantless wiretapping after 9/11 — was and continues to be made possible because reporters have been able to protect the identities of confidential sources." No federal shield law protecting journalists from such subpoenas currently exists. Congressional Democrats, led by Senator Amy Klobuchar, sent a May 7, 2025 letter to Bondi demanding justification and urging her to support a federal shield law.