Trump admin subpoenas NYT staffers after report on Air Force One gifted by Qatar

The Trump administration has subpoenaed multiple New York Times reporters after the outlet published a report about security concerns regarding the aircraft gifted to the United States by Qatar that was designated to be used as Air Force One.

The subpoenas, issued on Friday by US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, direct the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday. According to the Times, the subpoenas called on the journalists to testify “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.”

The move follows a New York Times report examining whether the $400 million Boeing 747-8 had been “retrofitted with sufficient security measures.” The report cited lawmakers who questioned whether the aircraft could be equipped with “an advanced missile defense system and other modifications.”

President Donald Trump traveled aboard the craft during its first international trip to the NATO summit in Turkey. After arriving, however, Trump announced he would be flying home on an older model so that US troops in Europe could view the new one.

The Trump administration, according to the New York Post, did not explicitly deny security reports but said it relied on “distraction and misdirection” to combat potential threats. Trump had said during the NATO summit that he was at the top of Iran’s “kill list.”

Earlier this year, the Justice Department subpoenaed reporters from the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal as part of a probe into national security leaks. Those subpoenas were later withdrawn.