Trump DOJ Seizes New York Times Reporter’s Phone, Email Records

By David Lauter, Los Angeles Times

08 June 18

ederal law enforcement officials seized several years’ worth of email and phone records from a reporter who currently works for the New York Times, the paper reported Thursday.

The seized material does not include the contents of the emails, but does include customer records from Verizon and Google covering two email accounts and a phone used by the reporter, Ali Watkins.

The seizures would mark the first known time that the Justice Department under President Trump has authorized prosecutors to obtain a reporter’s records as part of a leak investigation.

Federal prosecutors took similar actions in several cases under President Obama, but the Justice Department in Obama’s second term adopted new rules designed to shield reporters in many circumstances. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions has said that the Justice Department may change some of those rules, which some prosecutors say have hindered investigations.

The records in the current case appear to be part of an investigation into alleged leaks of classified information from the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Late Thursday, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington announced that the committee’s former security director, James A. Wolfe, had been indicted and arrested on a charge of making a false statement to investigators. Wolfe, 57, worked for the committee for 30 years and retired last month.

The reporter had a three-year romantic relationship with Wolfe, the paper said. Wolfe was not a source for Watkins’ stories, she said, according to the Times. The indictment of Wolfe, however, cites numerous communications between him and Watkins.

Watkins began working for the New York Times late last year, covering national security. The seized records predate her hiring, covering a period during which she worked at BuzzFeed and Politico.

A prosecutor informed Watkins on Feb. 13 about the seizure, the Times reported. The paper learned of the matter on Thursday, the day after the Intelligence Committee made a terse announcement that it was cooperating with the Justice Department “in a pending investigation.”