The US Department of Justice has withdrawn subpoenas seeking phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times journalists after a federal judge strongly criticised its handling of the case. The move is a setback for the Trump administration’s effort to identify confidential sources behind reporting on security concerns involving the Air Force One jet donated by Qatar, and raises press-freedom concerns over government attempts to compel journalists to reveal source-related information.

Judge Arun Subramanian said subpoenas targeting reporters should be a last resort and questioned whether the government had followed the law. The Times said the subpoenas also sought records connected to journalists’ relatives and were served by armed federal agents with only three business days’ notice; DOJ lawyers later acknowledged errors, including omitting key facts in an earlier court filing and improperly including relatives’ records. The challenged subpoenas were issued between 10 and 16 July and were declared null and void following their withdrawal.