Judge Unseals Espionage Probe of Tribune Over Battle of Midway

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A federal judge unsealed transcripts from the 1942 grand jury investigation of the Chicago Tribune under the Espionage Act for publishing a story that U.S. codebreakers had decrypted the Japanese Navy's code before fighting the Battle of Midway.

According Courthouse News, The Tribune's June 7, 1942 front-page story came on the final day of the four-day battle, which irreparably damaged the Japanese fleet, destroying four aircraft carriers, a cruiser and 248 airplanes.

Coming just 6 months after Pearl Harbor, it revitalized U.S. morale.

The Tribune story was accurate. Navy analysts had partially broken the Japanese Navy's code, turning a Japanese ambush into an ambush by the United States, which knew the number and disposition of Japanese forces before they attacked Midway Atoll.

President Franklin Roosevelt and the U.S. military were furious, and called for a federal investigation of the Tribune under the Espionage Act.

A grand jury declined to issue indictments, and the Tribune proclaimed it a victory for press freedom.

The transcripts of the investigation have been sealed - until now.

U.S. District Chief Judge Rubén Castillo on June 10 granted historian Elliot Carlson's petition to unseal the transcripts. Carlson is writing a book about the espionage investigation, for the Naval Institute Press.

The government fought the request, claiming that "historical significance" is not a sufficient reason to disclose grand jury transcripts.

Judge Castillo disagreed. He said the issues involved in the Tribune investigation remain vital today.

"Even now, there is a robust public debate surrounding the government's prosecution of members of the press for violations of the Espionage Act," Castillo wrote, citing President Obama's use of the Espionage Act to prosecute journalists.

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