"The New York Times suddenly published the information more than a year after acquiring it"
It was timed to be released with the Risen book and Today show appearances. Check other threads.
BTTT
"Outstanding breakdown"? "Well researched"? Gaynor copied his entire article from Wikipedia, as if that somehow reinforces his assertion that reporting on questionable wiretaps is the same as selling nuclear secrets to a foreign government.
As the co-author of the book The Rosenberg File, I would like to add a few comments to this post. The Rosenberg case was unusual in that most espionage cases do not result in a jury trial. The reason is that when a defendant is brought into court he is entitled to be presented with the evidence against him. In practice, this can mean not only revealing the substance of the secrets stolen, but also the tradecraft and methods used to identify him -- disclosures that can cripple future counter-espionage operations and potentially endanger lives.
It was possible to convict the Rosenbergs because there were living witnesses (the Greenglasses, Harry Gold) to testify against them. Also -- and this is key -- the Communist Party USA turned its back on the Rosenbergs. The international propaganda campaign on their behalf did not begin until after their conviction, when it was used to divert attention from the anti-Semitic purges, such as the Slansky trial, going on in Eastern Europe.
Had the CPUSA thrown its resources behind the Rosenbergs, a more aggressive defense team might have been able to abort or overturn the conviction by pressing the government to reveal more about its methodology.
The same issues that make it difficult to obtain jury verdicts against spies apply to terrorists. But the stakes are much higher. Spies, once exposed, spy no more. Terrorists can leave the country, only to resume their activities abroad and maybe even return to the U.S. under another identity.
"Will any reporter, any editor or the publisher of The New York Times be prosecuted for transmitting information relating to the national defense, specifically, that the United States government secretly monitored telephone calls from Al Quaeda operatives or suspected Al Quaeda operatives from outside the United States to the United States after September 11, 2001?"
Don't fear, there is lots of time to prosecute the NYT. The wheels of justice grind slowly. And the inquiry into the leak itself will scare away the rest of the media from making the mistake of disclosing classified information.
As for the NYT, don't forget that the grandson "Pinch" sulzberger, who is currently CEO, was a hippie lefty in the 1960s who said that American troops deserved to die in Vietnam more than the enemy. Even his father, Punch Sulzberger, who was head of the NYT back then, thought his words were treasonous. So the d-ckhead gets his Daddy's job, because of his name, and continues his treasonous actions. It will catch up to him.
Most interesting, buried in the article, is that the outcry over the Rosenberg's case was widespread and internaitonal and very polarizing. But they were executed only 2 (that's TWO) years after they were convicted, during 1953. What a difference 50 years makes. It would take 25 years to execute them today.