USA Today resists FBI subpoena seeking data of those who read story about agents’ killing

The FBI earlier this year tried to obtain records associated with people who accessed an article on USA Today’s website about the killing of two FBI agents as they tried to search a Florida apartment — sparking a legal fight and once again fueling concerns that federal law enforcement is not following its own guidelines when seeking news outlets’ data. The bureau’s request to Gannett, which owns USA Today, came in late April but spilled into public view only recently after the company resisted it in court. FBI agents sent the company a subpoena asking for records, including IP addresses and mobile identification information, of those who accessed a Feb. 2 article about the shooting during a 35-minute window that same day. The subpoena said the demand related to a criminal investigation and asked USA Today not to disclose its existence “indefinitely.” It was unclear, though, precisely what the FBI was investigating or how electronic records pointing to those who accessed the story might advance that inquiry. The subpoena, which did not seem to seek readers’ names, was previously reported by Politico.