The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several New York Times journalists after its report this week on security concerns involving the new Air Force One, according to the paper. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The new jet, which President Donald Trump received as a gift from Qatar, just entered service last week. The subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday, the paper said, adding that federal agents delivered some subpoenas to the reporters at their homes.
The NYT report could not be independently confirmed and there was no immediate response from the White House or the Department of Justice. "The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects," said the paper's lawyer David McCraw in a Friday statement.
The developments come after Trump flew the new Air Force One to a NATO summit in Turkey. But he departed Wednesday on one of the older-model Air Force One jets for a trip to Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force base in Suffolk.