The government has withdrawn subpoenas that would have compelled three New York Times reporters to testify about their sources for articles about President Donald Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. The withdrawals in U.S. District Court followed a remarkable back and forth between a visibly irritated Judge Arun Subramanian and government attorneys. They come at a time when the Trump administration is vigorously going after news organizations whose reporting and coverage it doesn’t like — and also trying to crack down on leaks inside the government.

A key Republican lawmaker says he believes that special counsel Jack Smith may have lied to Congress while testifying about his investigation of President Donald Trump and that the Justice Department should consider prosecuting him. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio referred Smith to the Justice Department on Wednesday. Jordan alleges Smith made false statements during closed-door testimony about whether he had obtained records of lawmakers while investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Smith's lawyers on Thursday denied the allegation and said he testified truthfully. The Justice Department says it “will investigate all evidence of criminal conduct.”

A court document says President Donald Trump's administration sought New York Times journalists’ phone records and even those of some of their relatives in an attempt to unmask the confidential sources of reporters who wrote about Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. The motion unsealed Monday reveals more expansive attempts by Trump's Republican administration than previously known to compel the identity of sources. The Justice Department has justified the original subpoenas by saying “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.” Additional subpoenas included a request for phone records of one reporter’s mother and two of the journalists’ spouses.

The New York Times has filed a motion to quash subpoenas that the Justice Department served on journalists who reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One, teeing up a significant court fight over press freedom and the government’s ability to force reporters to identify sources. The filing was made under seal Wednesday in the Southern District of New York, where the journalists were summoned in subpoenas delivered last Friday to testify before a federal grand jury. The Times’ senior vice president and deputy general counsel says the subpoenas “violate the constitutional rights of The Times and its journalists.”

Media advocates have reacted with alarm to subpoenas issued to five New York Times journalists who reported on security concerns about the new Air Force One. The move is seen as a dangerous and brazen escalation in President Donald Trump's campaign against media outlets that run content that angers him. The subpoenas demand the reporters testify before a federal grand jury this week. The National Press Club and the Committee to Protect Journalists are among the groups calling the Republican Trump administration's subpoenas an assault on press freedom. The Justice Department says reporters are not the targets — but leakers of classified information are.

The Department of Justice confirms that it's subpoenaed New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One. The subpoenas mark a dramatic escalation of President Donald Trump’s campaign against the media that's drawn condemnation for eroding a fundamental freedom of American democracy. The new jet was a present from the U.S. ally and the administration spent $400 million on to retrofit and upgrade. The plane entered service last week. But Trump used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey and later referenced threats against him made by Iran.

Judge rejects Justice Department attempt to subpoena names of 2020 election workers in Georgia’s Fulton County.