Justice Department withdraws subpoenas targeting New York Times reporters

The U.S. Justice Department has dropped its legal demands against three New York Times reporters. The reporters had been ordered to appear before a grand jury in Virginia and name their sources. Their articles covered a jet that Qatar gave to President Trump. A federal judge said the government had not followed the rules properly. Those rules say that forcing journalists to give up sources must be a last resort. The judge also said the government had turned the law "on its head." Officials had also requested phone records from one reporter's mother and two journalists' spouses. A Justice Department lawyer called these requests accidental errors. The government has been trying to find out who is leaking information about internal decisions to the press.