DOJ Grand Jury Subpoenas Records of The Hill Journalist John Solomon in Ukraine Probe
In 2019, federal prosecutors issued a grand jury subpoena for records related to reporting by John Solomon, then a journalist at The Hill, as part of investigations touching on Ukraine influence operations — raising press freedom concerns about the government's use of criminal process to scrutinize the newsgathering of a reporter whose work was politically sensitive.
John Solomon, an investigative journalist at The Hill whose reporting on Ukrainian politics and the Bidens drew significant political attention in 2019, became entangled in the broader Ukraine-related investigations of that year. Federal prosecutors issued grand jury process seeking records related to Solomon's reporting and sourcing as part of investigations connected to Ukrainian government figures and Rudy Giuliani's activities. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press flagged the subpoena as raising serious reporter's privilege concerns: prosecutors were effectively seeking to compel disclosure of a journalist's confidential sources and newsgathering materials. Solomon's attorney challenged the subpoena. The case illustrated the recurring tension between federal leak and foreign influence investigations and the First Amendment's protection of journalistic inquiry into government activities.