Reporters ordered to testify
in CIA leak
MSNBC
The Associated Press
Updated: 3:44 p.m. ET Feb. 15, 2005
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a
ruling against two reporters who could go to jail for refusing to
divulge their sources to investigators probing the leak of an
undercover CIA officer's name to the media.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit sided with prosecutors in their
attempt to compel Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and The
New York Times' Judith Miller to testify before a federal
grand jury about their confidential sources.
"We agree with the District Court that there is no First
Amendment privilege protecting the information sought,'
Judge David B. Sentelle said in the ruling, which was
unanimous.
Floyd Abrams, the lawyer for both reporters, said he would ask
the full appeals court to reverse Tuesday's ruling.
"Today's decision strikes a heavy blow against the
public's right to be informed about its government,'
Abrams said in a statement.
Jail time if no cooperation
In October, Judge Thomas F. Hogan held the reporters in contempt,
rejecting their argument that the First Amendment shielded them
from revealing their sources. Both reporters face up to 18 months
in jail if they continue to refuse to cooperate.
The special prosecutor in the case, Chicago U.S. Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald, is investigating whether a crime was
committed when someone leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie
Plame. Her name was published in a 2003 column by Robert Novak,
who cited two senior Bush administration officials as his
sources.
The column appeared after Plame's husband, former
Ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote a newspaper opinion piece
criticizing President Bush's claim that Iraq had sought
uranium in Niger. The CIA had asked Wilson to check out the
uranium claim. Wilson has said he believes his wife's name
was leaked as retaliation for his critical comments.
Disclosure of an undercover intelligence officer's
identity can be a federal crime if prosecutors can show the leak
was intentional and the person who released that information knew
of the officer's secret status.
Time, New York Times to fight on
Fitzgerald said he wants to bring his 14-month-old investigation
"to a prompt conclusion.' The judges agreed that
"the government has shown critical need for the reporters
to comply with the subpoenas in this case,' he said in a
statement.
Both Time and The New York Times said they would not give up
their fight. Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said the
newspaper also would press for "a federal shield law'
to make it harder to subpoena reporters or compel their
testimony. Legislation has been introduced in Congress.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan had little to say
about the appeals court ruling. "The president has made it
clear that he wants to get to the bottom of this matter,'
McClellan said, adding that Bush also has urged anyone with
information on the case to come forward.
Cooper is a White House correspondent for Time who has
reported on the Plame controversy. He agreed in August to provide
limited testimony about a conversation he had with Lewis
"Scooter' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's
chief of staff, after Libby released Cooper from his promise of
confidentiality.
Fitzgerald then issued a second, broader subpoena seeking the
names of other sources.
Miller is facing jail for a story she never wrote. She had
gathered material for an article about Plame, but ended up not
doing a story.
Prosecutors have interviewed President Bush, Cheney,
then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and other current or former
administration officials in the investigation. Journalists from
NBC and The Washington Post also have been subpoenaed.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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redistributed.
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