Justice department seizes journalist's phone and email records to investigate leak

The records belong to Ali Watkins of the New York Times

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the US Department of Justice have seized phone and email records of New York Times' journalist Ali Watkins (REUTERS/Yuri Gripas)

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized phone and email records of New York Times' journalist Ali Watkins as part of the agency's investigation into a leak of classified information.

The records encompass Ms Watkins' time before she joined the newspaper, while she was reporting for BuzzFeed News and then Politico, on national security matters. It is the first known seizure of journalists' data by the administration of President Donald Trump and the DOJ led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The records are part of the DOJ's investigation into whether James Wolfe, the Senate Intelligence Committee’s former director of security, had given controlled information to the media. FBI agents had previously questioned Ms Watkins about a three-year romantic relationship Ms Watkins had with Mr Wolfe, which she had disclosed to all her editors. Mr Wolfe has been arrested on suspicion of lying to the FBI about his contact with reporters.

Ms Watkins, who now covers federal law enforcement, was informed of the records seizure in February 2018 and the New York Times' said it "suggested that prosecutors under the Trump administration will continue the aggressive tactics employed under President Barack Obama".

Though she had been informed months ago, a letter only reached Ms Watkins and the newspaper on 7 June. The agency had obtained several years of her data from Google and Verizon for two email accounts and a phone number registered in her name. "Investigators did not obtain the content of the messages themselves," the newspaper reported.

Mr Wolfe, for his part, stopped working for the Senate intelligence committee in December 2017 and retired last month from government service.

The investigation appears to be part of Mr Sessions' push to pursue leak investigations - to the tune of three times as many as under the Obama administration. But, some critics see it as a clear attack on journalists. Mr Trump has famously complained several times about both leaks and the media, particularly when internal White House politics stories have been published.

Eileen Murphy, a spokesperson for the newspaper, said that "freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy, and communications between journalists and their sources demand protection".

Editor in Chief of BuzzFeed News Ben Smith said in a statement: “We’re deeply troubled by what looks like a case of law enforcement interfering with a reporter’s constitutional right to gather information about her own government".

Ms Watkins' lawyer Mark J MacDougall called the move by the DOJ "disconcerting" even if it was done through legal means. “Whether it was really necessary here will depend on the nature of the investigation and the scope of any charges," he said.