Free Republic

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission will adopt a new policy on subpoenaing journalists, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said Thursday in a move to resolve a controversy over the agency's recent demands for reporters' records. Cox and the other four SEC commissioners decided unanimously at a closed-door meeting to issue "clear principles" to guide agency attorneys on media subpoenas within the next week or so, he told reporters in a meeting. On Monday, after news reports had appeared on the matter, Cox took the unusual step of halting the agency's pursuit of subpoenas previously served on columnists for...

A regulatory investigation into allegations of collusion between short-sellers and a stock-research firm has led to the serving of subpoenas on TheStreet.com and its co-founder and major shareholder, James J. Cramer. Both TheStreet.com, which publishes this Web site, and Cramer, who writes a column on its RealMoney subscription site, have objected to the government's demands for communications between journalists and their sources. The subpoenas are related to a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into allegations that Gradient Analytics, an Arizona stock-research firm, published bearish research reports at the behest of a group of short-sellers, including Rocker Partners, a minority...