Trump DOJ Secretly Seizes CNN Pentagon Reporter Barbara Starr's Email and Phone Records
The Trump Justice Department secretly obtained two months of phone and email records for CNN national security correspondent Barbara Starr in 2017 as part of a leak investigation, CNN disclosed in June 2021 — the same week the Biden DOJ revealed similar seizures targeting New York Times and Washington Post reporters.
CNN disclosed in June 2021 that the Trump Justice Department had secretly obtained records of reporter Barbara Starr's work and personal email accounts and phone lines covering a two-month period in 2017, using a court order under 18 U.S.C. § 2703. Starr, who covers the Pentagon, was apparently a target of a leak investigation. CNN said it had not been notified at the time of the seizure. The disclosure came within days of revelations that the Trump DOJ had also seized records of four New York Times reporters and at least two Washington Post reporters. CNN filed suit challenging the seizure. The simultaneous revelation of multiple journalist records seizures — all from the Trump administration — prompted the Biden DOJ to announce a new policy in July 2021 barring the use of compulsory process to obtain journalists' records in leak investigations, formalizing Attorney General Merrick Garland's earlier informal pledge.