A bipartisan group of senators and House members reintroduced legislation Wednesday that would prohibit the government from seeking confidential information and sources from reporters.
The measure is aimed at strengthening the freedom of the press by protecting journalists from government efforts to compel them to disclose the identities of their sources, according to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., who are leading the Senate bill, and Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who introduced the House companion.
First introduced in 2022, the legislation came on the heels of revelations that the Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump had seized records from reporters at outlets including CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times.
