Free Republic

"Floyd Abrams, a lawyer whose reputation as a fierce protector of free speech is perhaps second to no one, has a surprising message to the media establishment. On Wednesday evening, he told a room full of other media lawyers that in light of Tuesday's election of Donald Trump, they needed to think creatively and even contemplate bringing libel cases on the plaintiff's side to bolster the First Amendment."

Constitutional lawyer Floyd Abrams says Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is on the right side in the argument over whether he can run for president. "I think Senator Cruz is right that 'natural-born' as understood would more likely than not be held to mean someone that didn't need to be naturalized, didn't have to go through any procedure to be an American, as of course he did not because he had an American mother," Abrams told host John Catsimatidis on "The Cats Roundtable" on New York's AM-970 on Sunday. Despite his belief that Cruz is a natural-born citizen, Abrams said...

Why don’t liberals understand the freedom-crushing nature of campaign finance reform? How come it is easy for liberals to see the First Amendment interest in other overheated free speech issues, such as reporting on the classified operations of the National Security Agency or displaying Robert Mapplethorpe nudes, but when it comes to political discourse during an election season, they’re all for government restraints? This is the same question that famed First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams raises in his autobiographical book Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment. In one chapter, Abrams recounts a speech he gave to a Unitarian church...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Floyd Abrams, the attorney for New York Times reporter Judith Miller, said Sunday he had tried a year ago to reach an agreement with Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald concerning Miller's testimony about the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity. Instead, a federal judge ordered Miller jailed when she refused to testify before the grand jury investigating the Bush administration's disclosure of CIA officer Valerie Plame's name. The reporter spent 85 days in jail before being released Thursday after she agreed to testify.Appearing Sunday on CNN's ``Reliable Sources,'' Abrams said: ``I tried to get a deal a...

Lawmakers: Writer May Have CIA Leak Info Thursday, February 24, 2005 WASHINGTON — Two lawmakers have sent a letter to the U.S. attorney saying a White House reporter who recently resigned following questions about his identity and background may have information vital to the investigation into who leaked a CIA operative's name to the press. Reps. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., and John Conyers, D-Mich., the ranking Democrats on the House Rules Committee and House Judiciary Committee, respectively, wrote a letter to Patrick Fitzgerald (search), the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, saying the Chicago attorney's office may need to...

As many as 100 FBI agents, federal prosecutors and other department employees are likely to be asked—possibly as early as the next few weeks—to sign broadly worded statements waiving any confidentiality agreements they had with journalists about the anthrax case, Justice officials tell NEWSWEEK. The waiver statement was recently ordered by a federal judge at the urging of lawyers for bioterrorism expert Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, who has filed a lawsuit alleging that government officials leaked damaging personal information about him in an effort to connect him with the anthrax attacks.

In an Oct. 10 editorial titled "The Promise of the First Amendment," the publisher and chief executive of the New York Times opined that for a federal judge to imprison their reporter Judith Miller for contempt of court violates the press freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. This argument misstates existing law and misunderstands the issues at stake.... The Times argues that "the press cannot perform its intended role if its sources of information -- particularly information about the government -- are cut off." Hence, Ms. Miller has a First Amendment right to refuse to respond to the subpoena. This...

A prosecutor's investigation into an apparent attempt by the Bush administration to punish a political opponent by revealing classified information has veered terribly off course. It threatens grievous harm to freedom of the press and the vital protection it provides against government misconduct. The reality of the threat was driven home, quite personally for us, last week, when a federal judge in Washington sentenced a Times reporter, Judith Miller, to up to 18 months in prison for refusing to testify before a grand jury. The panel is looking into who gave Robert Novak the name of a covert Central Intelligence...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 - President Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, testified on Friday to a federal grand jury investigating whether it was anyone at the White House who had illegally disclosed the name of a C.I.A. undercover officer to a newspaper columnist, a lawyer for Mr. Rove said. "He answered fully and truthfully every one of their questions," the lawyer, Robert Luskin, said. Mr. Luskin added that Mr. Rove, who testified for more than two hours, did not seek to avoid answering any question on legal grounds. A spokesman for the White House, Scott McClellan, said the testimony demonstrated...

...Fitzgerald has subpoenaed at least five prominent reporters in his investigation of the leaked identity...[of] Plame. New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who did reporting on the story, but never wrote about it, is resisting. Ms. Miller has refused to testify even though one of her sources, I. Lewis Libby... has given her permission to talk.... The case was referred to Mr. Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney in Chicago and a career prosecutor with a strong reputation for nonpartisan professionalism. In January, Mr. Fitzgerald asked administration officials to sign waivers of their rights to have confidential conversations. After seeking records of...

Does anyone remember a book circulated during the 1992 Presidential election that really tore apart Clinton? It might have been after the actual election, I'm not sure. What I remember of it was that it was a very thin paperback sent out free. I think the author was Floyd Abrams and the title was "Boy President," but I could be wrong on both counts. What I most remember about it is the cover photo of Clinton. He has the most phenomenal smirk on his face. What I am looking for is a scan of that cover, particularly that horrid smirk....

COMMENTARY Congress Turns Political Speech Into a Crime By FLOYD ABRAMS The most memorable moment in the senatorial race between Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio was when the latter strode up to the former in mid-debate and demanded that she sign a document promising to dissuade out-of-state supporters from placing ads on TV during the campaign. If she did, Mr. Lazio said he would do the same, and New York would have an election free from outside interference. Ultimately (after the dust settled on the critical policy issue of whether Mr. Lazio had moved too threateningly toward Ms. Clinton), she...