The US Justice Department on Thursday withdrew subpoenas issued to New York Times reporters over a story about security concerns with a plane donated to President Donald Trump by Qatar, AFP reported Thursday.
Federal prosecutors agreed at a court hearing in New York before District Judge Arun Subramanian to unilaterally withdraw the subpoenas, according to the report.
The Times had challenged the government's requests for reporters' phone records and grand jury testimony, calling them an attempt to intimidate the press, and had filed a motion to quash the subpoenas, the report said.
Lawyers for the newspaper said the government's actions violated First Amendment protections for newsgathering activity and represented an escalating series of attacks on journalists, according to the news agency.
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