The FBI has withdrawn a subpoena demanding records from USA TODAY that would identify readers of a February story about a southern Florida shootout that killed two agents and wounded three others.
The subpoena, issued as part of an investigation seeking to identify a child sexual exploitation offender, was withdrawn after investigators found the person through other means, according to a notice the Justice Department sent to USA TODAY's attorneys Saturday.
Charles Tobin, who represents Gannett, USA TODAY's parent company, said the Justice Department's decision to withdraw the subpoena should remind the Biden administration of the importance of an independent press.
"The government's own guidelines require the FBI to pursue alternative sources before subpoenaing a newspaper," Tobin said. "This is a reminder of why that restraint makes perfect sense."
Withdrawal of the subpoena came on the same day that the Justice Department announced it will no longer secretly obtain reporters' records during leak investigations, a departure from a policy used by previous administrations to try to identify sources who provided journalists with classified information. The reversal came after recent revelations that the Trump administration had secretly obtained the phone records of reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN.
"Going forward, consistent with the President's direction, this Department of Justice – in a change to its longstanding practice – will not seek compulsory legal process in leak investigations to obtain source information from members of the news media doing their jobs," Justice Department spokesman Anthon Coley said in a statement Saturday.
President Joe Biden recently criticized the policy, saying it's "simply wrong" to seize journalists' records.
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