The DOJ and Threats to the Press
Wednesday, Oct. 7 | 4:30 – 6 p.m.
Annenberg Auditorium
735 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Room 1120
Free and open to the public.
RSVP here. RSVPs are not required, but are helpful for planning and updates.
In July, the Trump administration issued subpoenas to several New York Times reporters in an attempt to compel them to reveal confidential sources following their reporting on security concerns surrounding a Boeing 747 given to the President by the Qatari government. The Justice Department withdrew the subpoenas weeks later, after a federal judge questioned its approach.
The episode is part of a broader pattern of escalating pressure on the press and raises fundamental questions about journalists’ ability to investigate our government and the public’s right to know about what its government is doing.
Join Eric Schmitt, a national security reporter from The New York Times who received a grand jury subpoena at his home, and Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, in conversation with Lynette Clemetson. They will examine the legal boundaries of government power, what happens when journalists face pressure for reporting on those who govern, and why the public should care about threats to journalists covering those in power.
About Speakers
Eric Schmitt is a veteran national security correspondent for The New York Times, where he has reported on the U.S. military, intelligence community, and counterterrorism issues for more than three decades as part of a 40-year career at the newspaper. He has covered every major conflict involving the U.S. military since the 1991 Persian Gulf War and has reported extensively from Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, and the Middle East, writing widely on security developments across the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and Europe. Schmitt has shared in four Pulitzer Prizes for his reporting and is the co-author of Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda. He began his journalism career covering local education at the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, Washington. Schmitt holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Williams College, studied in Madrid, and was a journalism fellow at Stanford University.
Gabe Rottman is vice president of policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit organization that provides pro bono legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists. He leads the organization’s efforts to advance key policy priorities, including the PRESS Act and the Department of Justice’s news media guidelines. He’s a practicing attorney with a focus on novel issues at the intersection of press freedom, newsgathering, and technology. Rottman is a frequent commentator on technology and civil liberties issues. He has been published in, among other outlets, the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, CNN and Roll Call, and has testified before Congress. Rottman has a B.A. from McGill University and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
About the Moderator
Lynette Clemetson is the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan.