Justice Department Subpoenas New York Times Freelancer Over 2025 North Korea Story
The Facts
- The Justice Department subpoenaed Matthew Cole, a freelance journalist who contributed to a New York Times investigation, as part of a probe into the sourcing of a 2025 story about a failed U.S. military operation in North Korea.
- The subpoena was issued in February by federal prosecutors in Virginia — specifically Newport News, according to the Times — and was delivered to Cole's New York home by FBI agents.
- Prosecutors are seeking more than two years' worth of Cole's notes as well as his testimony; the Times also reported the demand covers two years of his contacts and sources.
- The document was a grand jury subpoena, according to the Times' account of the matter.
- The subpoena had not been previously disclosed; Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said, "We support Matthew Cole's decision to make public a subpoena that the government has attempted to keep secret."
- The article at issue, co-written by Cole with Times national correspondent Dave Philipps, described a 2019 mission in which Navy SEALs landed on North Korean shores to plant a listening device and killed unarmed North Koreans when the operation went wrong.
- Cole's lawyer, David A. O'Neil, said his client "has dedicated his professional life to bringing official misconduct to light" and "will not be intimidated," and would defend press freedom.
- The Times reported that federal subpoenas to reporters were exceedingly rare until President Trump's second term and characterized the case as part of an intensifying campaign to investigate leaks of government secrets by pressuring reporters to identify their sources.
- Cole has been fighting the subpoena, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Times; Reuters said it could not independently verify the newspaper's reporting.
Context
What was the story that prompted the subpoena?
In September 2025, Cole and Times national correspondent Dave Philipps published an investigation into a secret 2019 mission in which U.S. Navy SEALs landed on North Korean shores intending to plant an electronic listening device to intercept communications Al Jazeera Online,조선일보. The mission fell apart when the SEALs encountered North Koreans, and several unarmed North Koreans were killed Al Jazeera Online,theepochtimes.com. The Epoch Times reported that the story cited two dozen unnamed sources theepochtimes.com.
What exactly are prosecutors demanding from Cole?
According to the Times, the subpoena seeks more than two years' worth of Cole's reporting notes along with his testimony U.S. News & World R…,EconoTimes, and the Times also described prosecutors as demanding two years of his contacts and sources in an effort to identify who provided the information Guardian,Mediaite. The Times reported the subpoena was a grand jury subpoena DNyuz,Daily Press.
Why is this case drawing attention from press-freedom advocates?
The Times reported that federal subpoenas to reporters were exceedingly rare before Trump's second term, and framed this one as part of an intensifying effort to investigate leaks by pressuring journalists to reveal sources NYT,Taegan Goddard's Po…,Daily Press. The newspaper accused the government of "escalating attacks on journalists, which should concern all Americans" theepochtimes.com, and the disclosure follows the withdrawal of subpoenas against three Times reporters over sourcing related to Trump's aircraft TimesNow.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Demanding more than two years of a journalist's notes, contacts and sources — and keeping that demand secret — reads as overreach in both framings, not routine process.
- Where Left and Right split
- Whether this is about state power aimed at reporting that exposed killings of unarmed North Koreans, or about a leak hunt sweeping a citizen's files instead of government insiders.
How left and right read it
A grand jury subpoena demanding more than two years of a freelance journalist's notes, contacts and sources — delivered to his home by FBI agents, and kept secret — is state power aimed at the reporting that exposed Navy SEALs killing unarmed North Koreans during a failed 2019 mission. The Times notes such subpoenas were exceedingly rare until this term. Journalists without institutional armor should not be the pressure point for leak hunts.
“The subpoena, which has not been previously disclosed, reflects the administration's intensifying campaign to investigate leaks of government secrets by pressuring reporters to divulge their sources. Until President Trump began his second term, federal subpoenas to reporters were exceedingly rare.” — The New York Times
FBI agents delivered a grand jury subpoena to Matthew Cole's New York home in February, demanding more than two years of his notes, contacts and sources. Leaks of government secrets are a real problem, but compulsory process against a private citizen should be narrow and tied to the specific disclosure under investigation. Two years is not narrow. Find the leak inside the government; don't sweep up two years of a citizen's files.
The receipts — all 19 sources
Wire services (2)
Independent coverage (17)
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