In re application of The New York Times & Reporters Committee to unseal judicial records ancillary to grand jury subpoena of Matthew Cole

Case Number: 2:26-mc-00005

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Client: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Background: In August 2026, The New York Times reported that one of its freelance reporters, Matthew Cole, was fighting a subpoena seeking to force him to reveal his confidential sources for a story he wrote for the newspaper about a failed Navy SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea during Donald Trump’s first term as president. 

Attorneys for the Reporters Committee and The Times filed this application to unseal judicial records related Cole’s motion to quash or contest the subpoena, including any response by the government and statements or decisions by the court. The application argues that continued sealing of the records is neither required nor warranted because both The Times and Cole have confirmed the reporter’s receipt of the subpoena and his challenge to it. 

The application also argues that the public has a strong interest in understanding the government’s and Cole’s arguments for why the subpoena should or should not be enforced, which come amid an alarming spike in grand jury subpoenas issued to reporters.

Quote: “Transparency is particularly important in this matter because the Subpoena, and Mr. Cole’s challenge to it, implicate significant constitutional and policy questions concerning protection for reporters’ confidential sources,” attorneys for the Reporters Committee and The Times argue in the application to unseal.

Related: In January 2026, the Reporters Committee filed an application to unseal search warrant materials related to the FBI’s raid of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home as part of a leak investigation. Two weeks later, a federal judge unsealed a redacted version of the search warrant affidavit, revealing that the U.S. Justice Department failed to reference the Privacy Protection Act, a crucial press freedom guardrail that largely prohibits raids targeting the press to seize unpublished work.

Filings:

2026-08-14: Application to unseal judicial records

2026-08-14: Brief in support of application to unseal judicial records