<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB110848287162655317,00.html>
The Wall Street Journal
February 15, 2005 12:08 p.m. EST
MEDIA & MARKETING
Federal Appeals Court Rules
Against Reporters in CIA Leak
Associated Press
February 15, 2005 12:08 p.m.
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's 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.
THE WRITTEN RECORD Read the court's ruling1 in the case, by arrangement
with Findlaw (www.findlaw.com2)
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,"
Mr. Abrams said in a statement.
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 Central Intelligence Agency 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 Ms. 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 Mr. Wilson to
check out the uranium claim. Mr. 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.
Mr. 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 Mr. Libby released Mr. Cooper from his
promise of confidentiality.
Mr. Fitzgerald then issued a second, broader subpoena seeking the names of
other sources.
Ms. Miller is facing jail for a story she never wrote. She had gathered
material for an article about Ms. Plame, but ended up not doing a story.
Prosecutors have interviewed President Bush, Mr. 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.
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