US Justice Dept. Subpoenas New York Times Freelancer Over North Korea Report

The U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed the records of a freelance journalist for The New York Times as part of an investigation into a 2025 story detailing a U.S. military operation in North Korea, the newspaper disclosed on Saturday.

Subpoena Details

According to the Times, freelance journalist Matthew Cole received the subpoena in February from federal prosecutors in Virginia. The legal demand seeks his testimony and more than two years’ worth of his notes related to the story.

The article at the center of the probe, co-written by Cole, was published in 2025. Citing two dozen unnamed sources, it reported that U.S. Navy SEALs killed several unarmed North Koreans during a mission in early 2019 to plant a listening device off the country's coast.

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New York Times Response

The New York Times is providing legal representation for Cole and condemned the government's action. "The demand that he disclose his sources is another brazen and illegal attack from the administration designed to deny the public information of vital importance,” spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement.

Stadtlander added that the subpoena is part of the government's "escalating attacks on journalists, which should concern all Americans." He also noted that Cole was now making the subpoena public after the government had sought to keep it secret. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.