London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

US snooped on UK reporter – Guardian

US snooped on UK reporter – Guardian

The news outlet is outraged it wasn’t notified about a Department of Justice probe into their reporter
The US Department of Justice secretly subpoenaed the personal phone account data of a Guardian reporter during an investigation into leaks regarding the Trump administration’s border policy, the UK-based media outlet wrote on Thursday.

Investigators looking for the source of leaks regarding the administration’s Mexican border policy issued the subpoena to obtain reporter Stephanie Kirchgaessner’s phone subscriber information without notifying either The Guardian or Kirchgaessner herself.

The outlet was outraged to learn about the alleged violation of its employee’s privacy, with editor-in-chief Katharine Viner denouncing the behavior as “an egregious example of infringement on press freedom and public interest journalism by the US Department of Justice.”

The Guardian will be seeking “an explanation for why and how this could have occurred, and...an apology,” Viner continued, adding that she would also demand “assurances that our reporter’s details would be erased from [US Department of Justice] systems and will not be used for any further infringements of press freedom.”

The inquiry into the leaks was conducted by the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and sought to determine whether someone within the Justice Department’s IG office had leaked sensitive data to The Guardian, the New York Times and NBC. However, The Guardian claims it was the only one of those publications to have a reporter’s cell phone subpoenaed.

Kirchgaessner’s phone information was subpoenaed from her service provider, but while “basic subscriber information” such as “names, addresses and length of service” were obtained, the report claims the “contents of communications” were not.

The reporter published two articles in 2020 based on sensitive information about the administration’s “zero tolerance” border policies, which sought to curb the flow of migrants across the US’ southern border by threatening illegal immigrants with separation from their children. One of the articles attested that former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had personally called for the prosecution of migrant parents, and another revealed that a Trump federal judicial nominee had been involved in removing a Texas prosecutor who spoke out against family separation at the border.

An employee from the DOJ Inspector General’s office reportedly resigned earlier this week after an investigation into the leaks involving the Trump administration’s border policy appeared to point to him.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×