Dec 28, 2021 - Economy

Judge allows New York Times to temporarily keep Project Veritas memos

Shawna Chen

Photo of a person walking in front of the entrance to the New York Times building — The New York Times building. Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

A New York state appeals court on Tuesday temporarily lifted a court order requiring the New York Times to give up or destroy copies of legal memos written by a lawyer for the conservative group Project Veritas.

Why it matters: The case gained attention among First Amendment and press freedom advocates after a trial judge sided with Project Veritas last week and ordered the publication to return physical copies of the memos and destroy its electronic copies.

"This ruling should raise alarms not just for advocates of press freedoms but for anyone concerned about the dangers of government overreach into what the public can and cannot know," A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the Times, said in a statement last week after the order was announced.
Despite Tuesday's order, the Times is still temporarily barred from publishing the memos, which Project Veritas argues are protected by attorney-client privilege.

What they're saying: "We are pleased that parts of an unconstitutional order have been stayed," a Times spokesperson said.

"We look forward to having the appellate division fully vacate the Supreme Court’s order," the spokesperson added.

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Judge allows New York Times to temporarily keep Project Veritas memos

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