I understand tort so much better than criminal, which is where I was going. :o)
Right off the bat, I'm going for this tape being an *act* of terrorism covered under
TITLE 50 > CHAPTER 36 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 1801
(c) “International terrorism” means activities that—
(2) appear to be intended—
(A) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(B) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion;
According to news about this story, ABC knowingly sent a transmission copy of the tape via satelite into the United States, which would become an act of collusion with the terrorist. The tape is essentially contriband unless or until the government determines that it is not. I believe that part might be covered under RICO.
You were heading down the right road, but you turned off at the wrong exit.
There was nothing wrong with ABC's transmitting the tape into the US.
But ABC was under obligation to turn the original tape over to the appropriate authorities, which would have been FBI or Homeland Security. The original might have contained forensic clues useful to FBI or HS.
Instead, ABC turned an edited copy over to the authorities, after removing 15 minutes that might have had a political impact. It was not ABC's province to make that decision or tamper with the evidence. This is where network employees crossed the line.
The fact that this was related to terrorism and not some petty crime puts it under PATRIOT.