Posted on 10/07/2004 11:47:37 AM PDT by cyncooper
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge held a New York Times reporter in contempt on Thursday for refusing to testify in the investigation of whether the Bush administration illegally leaked a covert CIA officer's name to the media.
U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas Hogan ordered the reporter, Judith Miller, held in confinement at a suitable place. He did not specify where she would be confined, but it most likely would be in jail.
The judge, who last month upheld a subpoena requiring Miller's testimony before a federal grand jury about her confidential sources, stayed any confinement, pending an appeal by The New York Times.
A number of top officials have been questioned in the leak investigation, including President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell. The investigation is being led by Justice Department special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.
The investigation has been hearing testimony in an attempt to establish who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame to the news media last year. Her husband, a diplomat in the Clinton administration, has charged the White House acted in retribution for his clash with Bush over an Iraq weapons claim.
Miller said she was "extremely disappointed that I have been sentenced to jail," even though she did not write and her newspaper did not publish an article about Plame.
Miller said it was "frankly frightening" that she may be put in jail "just for doing my job and talking to government employees about public issues."
"Confidential sources, especially in Washington, are vital for balanced reporting if the public is to hear from government critics," she said.
Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the Times' publisher, said in a statement the investigation has moved "dangerously off course" and Miller had done nothing wrong.
"She is not the person who revealed the identity of a CIA agent. Yet she is the one who is facing time in jail while the very people who exposed Ms. Plame remain unpunished," he said.
As part of the investigation, a number of reporters have been subpoenaed to testify about their confidential sources. No charges have been brought as part of the probe, which began more than a year ago.
The question should be is Shultzberger aiding and abetting the reporter by paying her while in jail or otherwise missing work. Is he forcing her under pain of job loss to insist on non existant rights?
Should he not be questioned by the Grand Jury about his actions to prevent her testimony?
What do you suppose people like Judith get for remaining silent? Why wouldn't she testify if she doesn't know anything?
Earlier today there was another post on a speech by a Dem congressman (Moran?) in which the reporter claimed that Joseph Wilson "was fired by Bush after he wrote the story discounting the Niger uranium claim." The reporter also said that Plame "was working on a covert CIA operation" when she was "outed." Aren't both of those claims false? Wasn't Wilson already retired from the foreign service? And has anyone claimed that Plame was exposed while in the middle of a dangerous covert mission?
Poor Judith is not seeing the whole picture. First off, she will get a great opportunity, at government expense, to write an expose on prison life. Second, she will get to be a journalistic heroine because of the government's attack on her, thirdly, she will rise in the ranks of the New York Times because she "bit the bullet," and lastly, she will have enhanced her resume sufficiently to get a job at CBS.
They're after her source, no?
Judge Hogan was appointed to the United States District Court in August 1982 and became Chief Judge on June 19, 2001.
He graduated from Georgetown University, receiving an A.B. (classical) in 1960. He attended George Washington University's masters program in American and English. Following law school, Judge Hogan clerked for Judge William B. Jones of the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia from 1966 to 1967.
He served as counsel to the National Commission for the Reform of Federal Criminal Laws from 1967 to 1968, and was engaged in private practice from 1968 to 1982.
He has been an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center and a Master of the Prettyman-Leventhal Inn of Court.
He is a member of the Executive Committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference, Chair of the Courtroom Technology Subcommittee, and served on the Board of the Federal Judicial Center. .
I missed that thread. Yes, both charges are flat out false.
Hmmmmmmm, I wonder why the dem Congressman felt the need to start this kind of spin right now.......very interesting.
cocktail parties. they all go to the same cocktail parties (Novak too), and that's where Wilson himself "outed" his wife.
You probably missed that thread because it was about the "revive the draft" rumors. Moran was still fanning fears about the draft coming back, and the reporter launched into this stuff about Wilson and Plame.
"A universal military draft could be in the works if a new approach to resolving the post-invasion turmoil in Iraq is not found, Rep. Jim Moran told a near-capacity audience . . ." October 6
There is none.
What the media have failed to make clear is that this probe is about more than Plame/Wilson. Much more. It's about all "unauthorized leaks of confidential information regarding national security".
And the Miller subpoena refers directly to conversations she had with undisclosed government sources in the three weeks immediately after 9/11. Thus, it may, or may not, be anthrax-related.
There is a connection between her and Dr. David Kelly, the British arms inspector who committed suicide when the BBC was trying to use him to protect Saddam Hussein and attack Blair. Miller said she communicated with Kelly and received a note from him right before his suicide.
It's frankly frightening Ms Miller, that you journies keep claiming a right that nobody gave you. We're sick to death of "secret sources". Belly up to the bar baby and just tell it like it is. If you're not willing to, hope you enjoy your stay in jail.
Gotta wonder if they'll ever get around to questioning Ray McGovern...
This is true. Thanks piasa for reminding us.
Well, that fits in with my working theory.
Dangerously off-course? Whose course, I wonder? The NY Times perhaps? Thanks for the ping!
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