The Trump administration secretly seized the phone records of three Washington Post reporters who covered the federal investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, according to a report on Friday.
The disclosure sets off alarms about the independence of the Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump, echoing broad criticism of journalists being targeted in leak investigations. The last time a similar case surfaced was in 2013, when it was revealed the Justice Department had secretly obtained phone records belonging to Associated Press journalists.
Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called the seizure of the reporters’ phone records “horrifying.” Brown also said, “These actions threaten press freedom and the ability of journalists to hold the government accountable in the United States.”
The Post said in a report published Friday that three of its journalists were notified in May that the Justice Department had obtained records for home, office, and cellphone numbers. The records included the duration of calls and the timing, but not their content, according to the newspaper.
The reporters were Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and Adam Entous, who are respected journalists. All three had written about the government’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible links to Trump’s campaign.
Cameron Barr, the Post’s acting executive editor, said in a statement, “We are deeply