The U.S. Justice Department said Saturday that it will no longer secretly obtain reporters' records during leak investigations, a policy shift that abandons a practice decried by news organizations and press freedom groups. That tussle had begun during the Trump administration but had persisted at the Justice Department under Biden's administration, which ultimately moved to withdraw the gag order. The two newspapers whose reporters' phone records had been secretly obtained also said more needed to be done. The Justice Department statement did not say whether it would still conduct aggressive leak investigations without obtaining reporters' records. After blowback, Holder announced a revised set of guidelines for leak investigations, including requiring the authorization of the highest levels of the department before subpoenas for news media records could be issued.

Source: CBC News June 05, 2021 18:22 UTC