Media groups concerned by Justice Dept. investigation of CIA leak; prepared to oppose subpoenas

Associated Press ^ | 09-30-03

[Brian S]

Media organizations prepared Tuesday to oppose any efforts by the Justice Department to subpoena journalists and their notes to learn who leaked the identity of an undercover CIA agent to columnist Robert Novak.

Subpoenas could be challenged on the basis of First Amendment guarantees of freedom of the press, said Bill Felber, editor of The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury and freedom of information chairman for the Associated Press Managing Editors. But they could also be challenged, he said, if they were too broad or if the information could be obtained in other ways.

[Alamo-Girl]

Great catch again, piasa! Thank you!

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you, my friend, for the recommendation.

There isn't one single answer to your question about reporters testifying in court. Here are the answers:

There is no federal "shield law" to protect reporters from revealing their sources if summoned to court and asked to do so under oath. Instead, all 50 states and D.C. are free to establish their own shield laws. Some have done so, some have not.

If the conversation with the reporter took place in a jurisdiction that has a shield law, and its terms apply to the present case, the reporter can refuse to answer such questions and suffer no consequences. If, however, there is no such a law in that place and or its terms do not cover this instance, the reporter MUST testify. If he/she refuses to answer the questions, he/she can be jailed indefinitely for "contempt of court." The last instance of the jailing of a reporter (for failure to reveal sources in a murder trial) took place in Texas two years ago, as I recall.

The reporters "privilege," where it exists, is like the spousal right not to testify against his wife or her husband. The government cannot force the testimony. However, the privilege can be waived, and the individual can CHOOSE to testify.

Based on all this, IMHO President Bush should make the following statement:

"This is a national security issue which is now shrouded in obscurity because those who know the facts are not talking. In these times, I would think that any person werking for the federal government AND any person working as a reporter to cover the federal government, would place the well-being of the United States above their own well-being."

"Therefore, as President and Commander in Chief I ask any federal employee with information about any conversations concerning the wife of Mr. Wilson, to come forward and state honestly what he or she knows. I also call on any reporters involved in any such conversation to come forward and state honestly what they know."

"I do not promise immunity from the law for anyone who comes forward. I do believe they should come forward, because the security of the United States is at issue."

That's my take on that situation, legally.

John / Billybob

[piasa]

There was a hoax email letter mailed to the Washington Times, too, apparently in July...

It was made to look like it came from a US diplomat Stephan M. Minikes...

[Grampa Dave]

Makes one wonder how many former KGB agents Soros hired while in Russia and is paying them to coordinate and pull of these coincidences.

[Grampa Dave]

If there was a leak beside Wilson himself?

[piasa]

Thanks for reminding me, I forgot about old moneybags.

[Grampa Dave]

Soros came up last night on another thread.

This stuff is Classic KGB missinfo. Clancy in his latest book tells about the Islamofascists using former KGBers to create confusion about their realities.

Soros was living in Russia until recently. His attempt to crash our $ with the Euro before the Iraq war began and after it started was engineered by him from Russia.

KGBers are a dime a dozen and without many real world job skills.

Soros hates America and GW. He wouldn't mind spending a million to a billion to smear GW.

Today he called for a regime change in America. Too bad some specop doesn't make him a thing of the past.

[Timesink]

Media Schadenfreude / Media Shenanigans ping!

I am starting a new Plame/Wilson ping list effective immediately! Freepmail me to be added! Expect high volume! And please ping me to any new relevant thread, as there's no way I'll be able to find them all myself!

[ladyinred]

How funny is this. On the one hand, they are screeching like little girls at a Barbie party for the investigation into who did this "dastardly" deed, while on the other hand running away from any attempts at helping find out who did this "dastardly" deed!

They know exactly who did, and while claiming their journalistist protect their sources cry, I wonder, cynic that I am, if they aren't protecting the culprit with all of their might.

[piasa]

Is Soros then "the people" Putin was referring to this week who contacted the Russians about fighting the US in Afghanistan?

[Shermy]

Soros was living in Russia until recently. His attempt to crash our $ with the Euro before the Iraq war began and after it started was engineered by him from Russia.

I forgot about that.

[piasa]

Soros would make sense since there are groups associated with ANSWER involved.

[Grampa Dave]

Soros admitted that he tried to smash our dollar via the Euro and failed.

His hedge companies are probably working now to keep our markets from increasing. Look at all the bad data that keeps coming out from Reuters, which knocks the markets down. Then the data is corrected and the markets go up until more false data comes out.

Everytime our markets have a few good days or a week or so, this bs economic data from Reuters comes out. It knocks our markets down, and when the data is corrected they go back up.

Soros would gladly crush our markets and economy to get rid of President Bush. Today he call for regime change. All ready he has given millions for the 2004 election and has promised mass sums to the Rats to get rid of GW.

[Grampa Dave]

Absolutely, and Soros loves ANSWER and every phoney non profit in American which hate conservatives, Republicans and GW.

[piasa]

I suppose this has something to do with Soros, then... ?

AUGUST 1, 2001: (FORESHADOWING, RUSSIAN MEDIA) Mysterious predictions about some catastrophic event in the United States began to circulate in the electronic traffic and even were voiced by Russia's Pravda under the headline, "The Dollar and the U.S. Will Fall." Based on interviews with the Malaysian ambassador to Moscow and a group of Russian economists, the report was taken seriously enough for members of Russia's parliament, the Duma, to advise Russian citizens to cash out dollars. An adviser to the Duma's Commission on Economic Politics, Tatyana Koryagina, even specified late August or early September as the likely time for an attack on the US that would lead to its economic collapse. Not known to the US at the time, Bin Laden himself asserted before Sept 11 that he was preparing a major attack on America.

[Grampa Dave]

More than likely.

Soros did not want us to win in Afghanistan. He probably financed the Talibaners as well as the al Qaeda mass murderers.

I have a feeling he was asked to leave Russia this past May when he left and said that he had done enough for Russia and now he needed to work on the USA.

[Grampa Dave]

I would not be surprised at anything that Soros has done to harm America and would do to harm America.

Putie has been a different guy since Soros left Russia. Putie's cryptic comments this past week at Camp David rang bells in my head about Soros and the Russian Mafia. GW had a very serious look on his face when Putie was making those cryptic comments. Like GW knew what he meant, and both of them let Putie start the cryptic ball rolling.

[Grampa Dave]

Please put me on it.

Just do a search of the threads I have been on today. Most of the threads have dealt with the Plame Out!

[piasa]

Thanks a bunch; if you run across new info on Soros plase ping me to it, if you don't mind.

[Liberty Valance]

Wait just a dad burn minute here...what does Abercombrie and Fitch have to say about this?