The Trump administration has subpoenaed freelance reporter Matthew Cole, seeking to have him reveal his sources for a New York Times article on a top-secret 2019 Navy SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea.
FBI agents delivered the grand jury subpoena, which had not been previously reported, to Cole’s New York home in February. Issued by prosecutors in Newport News, Virginia, it demands two years of information on his contacts and conversations as investigators work to identify who leaked details of the classified operation.
The Times article, co-reported last fall by Cole and staff writer Dave Philipps, described how SEALs killed two or three unarmed North Koreans who stumbled upon a mission to plant a secret eavesdropping device near the country’s coastline. The account drew on interviews with two dozen people. Philipps has not been subpoenaed.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the specific probe but stated it will use all available legal tools to “uncover those who unlawfully disclose national defense information.”
