The Trump administration’s unprecedented attack on the nation’s news media is proceeding on a very public, headline-grabbing level and also on a lower-key and potentially more dangerous level. The most recent public salvo came May 1, when the president signed an executive order (of questionable legality) banning funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System. Other high-profile actions include banning the Associated Press from the White House, suing reporters for libel and demanding CBS lose its broadcast license — accompanied by Trump’s endless smears and threats on social media.
Less well known is another lower-key effort to suppress reporting by seeking to collect the phone records of reporters and trying to force their testimony in court, all in pursuit of government “leakers.” Attorney General Pam Bondi announced this new policy which replaces a Biden administration rule restricting federal agencies from intimidating reporters in this manner.
