Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday reversed former Attorney General Merrick Garland's policy against subpoenaing journalists for phone records, and now allowing her department to compel reporters to testify in court about leaks.

The Biden administration in 2021 limited the Justice Department's ability to obtain materials from reporters and news outlets except in certain circumstances, such as suspicion the reporter is working for a foreign government or in time-sensitive cases like kidnappings. 

The new order rescinds those protections, but Bondi said subpoenas will be "narrowly drawn" and journalists will be given plenty of notice. The change comes as the DOJ investigates a series of media leaks across the administration.

"This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop," Bondi wrote of the leaks. "I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland's policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks." 

Bondi said that any warrants to investigate a reporter's phone must be designed to "limit the scope of intrusion into potentially protected materials or newsgathering activities."

The change comes after a series of leaks recently dominated headlines, which have led to the firings of multiple individuals, including three people at the Pentagon. 

"Without question, it is a bedrock principle that a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy," Bondi wrote in the memo. "The Department of Justice will defend that principle, despite the lack of independence of certain members of the legacy news media."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.