Here is the text of the press release by the National Lawyers Guild on the victory in Des Moines today. It should be up on their website soon.

The U.S. Attorney announced this afternoon that it withdrew the subpoena seeking records relating to the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) chapter at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Subpoenas directed at four activists were also withdrawn. The NLG subpoena sought records relating its leadership and to a forum held at Drake on November 15, 2003, the day before a protest at which 12 were arrested. A gag order placed on employees of Drake University has also been lifted.

NLG President Michael Avery said, "The government was forced to back down in this case and it shows that people can and should stand up to the government when it is abusing its powers. The Lawyers Guild is grateful to our many friends and allies who supported us in the face of this attack by the government. This experience demonstrates that the American people cherish their right of free expression and the right of political groups to dissent from government policies."

Late Monday night, prosecutors from the United States attorney's office for the southern district of Iowa issued a statement confirming their investigation but saying that its scope was limited to finding out more about one activist involved in a protest at an Iowa National Guard based in Johnston, Iowa, the day after the forum. Prosecutor Stephen Patrick O'Meara said in a statement, "The narrow purpose and scope of that inquiry has been narrowed to determine whether there were any violation s of federal law, or prior agreements to violate federal law, regarding unlawful entry onto military property…" Federal officials had previously refused to provide any information about the grand jury inquiry.