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DOJ Subpoenas Times Reporters over reporting on Air Force One [1]

['Kelli Anne Busey', 'Greg Dworkin', 'Sabrina Haake', 'Crimson Quillfeather']

Date: 2026-07-11  

In a serious escalation in its war on the press the DOJ has subpoenaed New York Times journalists who reported that his Qatari-gifted jet lacked defensive capabilities.

President Trump changed airplanes at the urging of the Secret Service, flying on the old Air Force One jet as a security precaution instead of the new Qatari-gifted plane for part of his return trip from a NATO summit in Turkey, the Times reported.

Related:

The content for subpoenas is unknown but the lack of defensive capabilities of the VC-25B Bridge is common knowledge.

The U.S. federal government acquired the plane as a gift from the Qatari government in 2025 and it underwent modifications by L3Harris for its new role. U.S. president Donald Trump uses the aircraft alongside the existing VC-25As. As a stopgap for the VC-25B, the VC-25B Bridge lacks several features of the definitive aircraft, including defensive countermeasures, source Wikipedia.

The Times journalists who received subpoenas included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, who reported on Wednesday that Mr. Trump had departed Turkey on the old Air Force One as a security precaution at the urging of the Secret Service. On Thursday, The Times reported that the new Air Force One, a Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities. Both articles cited sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/11/800068399/community/trumps-criminal-lawyer-at-the-doj-subpoenas-the-times/

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