The New York Times announced Thursday that the Justice Department had seized the phone and email records of one of its reporters, Ali Watkins.
According to the Times, Watkins was notified of the “secret” seizure in a letter back in February. The DOJ was reportedly tracing information as part of a classified investigation into leaks occurring in the Trump administration.
According to the letter, DOJ collected Watkins’ phone records between Feb. 1, 2017, and July 1, 2017, in addition to all emails relating to two of Watkins’ personal email accounts, “from account inception” through November 2017.
Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Times, said that “freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy, and communications between journalists and their sources demand protection.”
Watkins’ personal lawyer, Mark MacDougall added that “it’s always disconcerting when a journalist’s telephone records are obtained by the Justice Department — through a grand jury subpoena or other legal process.”
“Whether it was really necessary here will depend on the nature of the investigation and the scope of any charges.”
According to the Times, Watkins had previously been approached by the FBI about a former romantic relationship she had with James Wolfe, a former Senate Intelligence Committee aide.
“She did not answer their questions,” the Times wrote Thursday. “Mr. Wolfe stopped performing committee work in December and retired in May.”
This is the first known instance of the Trump administration secretly collecting the communications of journalists, a continuation of “the aggressive tactics employed under President Barack Obama,” the Times notes.
[Also read: As technology advances, we must protect freedom of the press in legislation]
