2.16.2005
Judges Order 2 Reporters to Testify on Leak (WashingtonPost.com)
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page A01
Reporters at the New York Times and Time magazine may be jailed if they continue to refuse to answer questions before a grand jury about their confidential conversations with government sources regarding the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
The decision upholds a trial court's finding last year that Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine are in contempt of court and should be compelled to testify as part of an investigation into whether Bush administration officials knowingly leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame in the summer of 2003.
The unanimous opinion was an expected but still painful blow for the reporters, their news organizations, other media and advocates of free speech. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled there is no First Amendment privilege that allows reporters to conceal information they gather from a criminal inquiry.
(More ... Judges Order 2 Reporters to Testify on Leak (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:21
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page A01
Reporters at the New York Times and Time magazine may be jailed if they continue to refuse to answer questions before a grand jury about their confidential conversations with government sources regarding the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
The decision upholds a trial court's finding last year that Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine are in contempt of court and should be compelled to testify as part of an investigation into whether Bush administration officials knowingly leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame in the summer of 2003.
The unanimous opinion was an expected but still painful blow for the reporters, their news organizations, other media and advocates of free speech. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled there is no First Amendment privilege that allows reporters to conceal information they gather from a criminal inquiry.
(More ... Judges Order 2 Reporters to Testify on Leak (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:21
