Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche warned Tuesday that reporters who get classified information from government sources will “receive a subpoena” — a startling threat that builds on the Trump administration’s continued attacks on press freedom.

“Prosecuting leakers who share our nation’s secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration,” Blanche posted on X. “Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material.”

The top prosecutor’s statement comes one day after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump complained to Blanche about media leaks following the start of the Iran war. Blanche reportedly promised to subpoena the records of reporters who have worked on national security stories — a highly unusual move, considering leak investigations tend to target government officials rather than journalists.

Tuesday’s statement also mirrors that of Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles, who, in a leaked email obtained by Politico, warned other White House staff that “unauthorized leaks will not be tolerated” because they can lead to “significant disruption to ongoing operations and potentially endanger missions and activities of national significance.”

Investigating reporters under the guise of protecting national security is an “outrageous attempt to silence sources, intimidate journalists and bury the truth about President Trump’s unpopular decision to launch a war even his own generals warned against,” Freedom of the Press Foundation chief of advocacy Seth Stern said in a Tuesday statement in response to Blanche.

“These subpoenas are a direct threat to the public’s right to know, and the Journal is correct to fight them,” Stern continued. “Since the Department of Justice has abandoned the First Amendment, it’s up to the courts to restrain the government’s attempts to crush investigative journalism.”

Blanche’s threat is only the latest attack on press freedom. Just one week earlier, MS NOW reported that the FBI launched a criminal investigation into leaks to a journalist for The Atlantic who wrote a damning story on agency director Kash Patel’s alleged drinking habits and erratic behavior. The story did not include any known classified information.

“When you say there’s credible reporting, just because you say it’s credible doesn’t make it so,” Patel told senators on Tuesday about last month’s report by Sarah Fitzpatrick, who spoke to dozens of government sources concerned about the director’s behavior.

The FBI also began investigating New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson in March over reporting about Patel’s girlfriend allegedly using bureau resources, but declined to pursue a case.

In January, FBI agents executed a search warrant on Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home weeks after she wrote about how more than 1,000 sources spoke with her about the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal government. That reporting won the Post a Pulitzer Prize.

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