Posted on 04/19/2005 3:12:31 PM PDT by stinkerpot65
Two reporters facing up to 18 months in jail for refusing to testify about their sources lost another round in the courts today. The reporters, Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, now have only one appeal left, to the United States Supreme Court.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
To take it one step further, the best way to limit government fraud is to eliminate the entire concept of a "government employee" as we know it. Every person employed by the government gets fired at the end of the year, and replaced by someone else -- that way, there would be no need for a government worker to have any fear of losing your job by exposing criminal activity on the part of his superiors.
You're presuming the only crime would be the leaking of Plame's "name".
Shermy you know I've always posited that the leaking of Plame's name was not the crime...
You know this is the third court ruling upholding the contempt citation...
Or maybe you don't. But it is.
That's unanimous rulings saying the reporters have to testify. Including by judges who concede there is a time and place to grant reporters exceptions.
But not in this case.
Sorry (not).
Judge Sentelle in particular expounds on the question of who is a journalist.
bump
These journos are not protecting a Pubbie....
Check this out.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20050422.html
Good wrap up. I found the comments about the secret testimony to the judge very interesting.
In a November 10, 2004 ruling, Judge Hogan addressed this information: "In his ex parte affidavit, Special Counsel outlines in great detail the developments in this case and the investigation as a whole," he explained. "The ex parte affidavit establishes that the government's focus has shifted as it has acquired additional information during the course of the investigation. Special Counsel now needs to pursue different avenues in order to complete its investigation." (An ex parte affidavit is one to which the other side in the dispute is not privy.)
Judge Hogan then found, based on Fitzpatrick's information, that "the subpoenas were not issued in an attempt to harass the [reporters], but rather stem from legitimate needs due to an unanticipated shift in the grand jury's investigation." The Judge concluded that because the "subpoenas bear directly on the grand jury investigation and are of a limited time and scope," Fitzpatrick was entitled to this information.
Now what caused this shift..
Here is another thing....every Judge has seen the In his ex parte affidavit....and has sided the Fitzgerald. There is something explosive in that affidavit.
Apparently you didn't; Victor Toensing is NOT a deputy AG.
You are dead right. SOMETHING has caused both the shift and the judges unanimously siding with the government. Spies? Sabotage? Conspiracy? Tied in with Oil for Food? Could be any or all of those things. Interesting!
I haven't figured out conspiracy yet.....:-)
Victoria!!!
Well, be sure to ping me when you figure it out!
He does address the same tantalizing bits about Fitzgerald's secret affidavit that I've referenced before and says:
Undoubtedly, several of the appellate judges have examined Fitzpatrick's affidavit as well.
Yes, they did and Judge Tatel has pages and pages of his opinion redacted as he made reference to this sealed information.
To add icing to the cake, the New York Times is clearly DYING to know what that secret information is. Me, too, but to witness their gnashing teeth is very enjoyable.
It's all the same people who keep appearing. I sometimes wonder if they have super-secret meetings at their headquarters under the UN, complete with minions dressed in James Bond type villain-minion uniforms. LOL!
James Bond???....you been watching the Bond movies with Mr. Marple again??
I have always maintained the grand jury was not looking into who leaked Plame's name (primarily) and once that issue was set aside they had other issues.
My guess is these reporters were recipient of illegal leaks from a rogue or rogues at the CIA and/or State to do with intelligence.
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