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The news, with footnotes

Civic term

Subpoena


What it means

A command to appear and testify, or to produce documents or other evidence. Courts issue them, and congressional committees may issue them within their authority; ignoring one can expose the recipient to contempt proceedings.

Definition drawn from law.cornell.edu · last verified 2026-08-17

Sift's plain-language summary of the cited source, not a quotation from it.


How it's being covered

306 stories in Sift's index, from 45 outlets.

Filed 2026-03-30 — 2026-09-28.

Counts stories whose headline or summary uses the term, plus stories where Sift's own reading notes flagged it — many pieces turn on a term they never spell out in the headline.

Across the spectrum

  • Left89 stories
  • Center96 stories
  • Right92 stories

Positions are AllSides' published ratings, shown for the outlets that filed these stories. 29 stories are counted in the total above but not placed here — either the outlet has no published rating, or Sift has not yet matched the name it files under to a dossier.

Who's covering it


Recent stories on Sift