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Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Reporters must testify in Plame investigation

Reuters.com:

A U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday that two journalists must testify before a federal grand jury about their confidential sources in an investigation into a leak that exposed the identity of a covert CIA operative. The three-judge panel ruled that New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine must comply with a subpoena from a grand jury investigating whether the Bush administration illegally leaked the officer's name to the news media. The decision upheld a ruling by a federal judge that Miller and Cooper were in contempt of court and should be jailed for refusing to testify about their confidential sources. Miller and Cooper each face as much as 18 months in prison. 'There is no First Amendment privilege protecting the evidence sought,' Judge David Sentelle wrote in the opinion.
I agree with this ruling, it is one thing to accord reporters certain extra privilages but the reporters were the primary witnesses to this crime. Perhaps we will soon know who leaked Plame's name.

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