WASHINGTON — The Justice Department defended itself after the Wall Street Journal revealed on March 4 that it had received subpoenas in connection with a leak investigation into the newspaper's reporting on the war with Iran. According to a statement, the department said it was trying to protect the lives of soldiers who could be harmed by leaks of classified information.

The subpoenas demand records from Journal reporters and relate to a February 23 article that reported the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others at the Pentagon had warned President Trump about the risks of an extended military campaign against Iran. Other news media outlets published similar stories around the same time.

"Prosecuting leakers who share our nation's secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the statement. "Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material," Blanche said.

A Justice Department official said the subpoenas are not aimed at investigating the journalists themselves but at tracking down government employees who are leaking classified information. The newspaper's parent company rejected that framing.

"The subpoenas represent an attack on constitutionally protected newsgathering," Dow Jones Chief Communications Officer Ashok Sinha said. "We will vigorously oppose this effort to stifle and intimidate essential reporting," he said.

Historically in Espionage Act investigations into leaks of classified information, the department has pursued the leakers, not the journalists who received the classified information. The department faced criticism in Trump's first term for secretly serving subpoenas on both journalists and congressional staff members in connection with leak investigations. The Biden administration later imposed restrictions that made it much harder to seize reporters' phones and email records.

In April 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo making it easier for prosecutors investigating leaks to the news media to subpoena records and testimony from journalists. The memo rescinded a policy implemented by Bondi's predecessor Merrick Garland and stated that under the new regulations, prosecutors in criminal investigations are allowed to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to compel production of information and testimony by and relating to members of the news media.

Earlier this year, the FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post reporter, with agents collecting her phone, laptops, Garmin watch and portable hard drives. The search was part of an investigation into a government contractor who was later indicted for allegedly disseminating classified material.