Time magazine complied with a court order to turn over information regarding a leak in the White House that exposed the undercover identity of a CIA operative. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan told the magazine and two reporters yesterday they had one week to comply or be held in contempt of court and the reporters would go to jail.
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declined to hear pleas of Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine in so doing, dashed the hopes of the two reporters to avoid jail in order to protect the identity of an informer in the Bush Administration.
Much of the case also surrounds columnist Robert Novak. Novak, a known conservative commentator revealed the name of an undercover CIA operative in his column. Apparently, the leaker had approached Cooper and Miller as well. Miller wrote about the operative after Novak broke the story and Cooper never even wrote a story about the topic. The event happened 2 years ago. Novak didn’t reveal his source either and won’t say whether or not he talked to a grand jury about the matter.
“If anyone thinks they’re going to jail because of me, it’s madness,” said Novak told the New York Times. “Some people seem to think that.”
Bob Novak has been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a regular contributor on CNN for decades. Novak elected to keep quiet on his legal issues right now.
The case stems from a federal investigation into the legality of the White House leak of the identity of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame while she was undercover. Ms. Plame’s husband, Joseph Wilson, was a diplomat who’d been critical of the Bush administration’s war with Iraq. Wilson claims the leak a political attack on him because of his criticism.
Attorneys for Cooper and Miller asked for up to 3 weeks and Judge Hogan put the slap down on it, giving the two journalists one week to comply, saying they’ve had weeks already because of appeals.
Time Inc. and The New York Times could also be in hot water. If things progress as they have currently, they could face steep fines and but in a story in the Chicago Tribune, Theodore Boutros, a lawyer for Time, suggested yesterday that the magazine may turn over the notes and “to see if we can come up with a way to avoid the crisis.” It looks like they did.
Time said in a statement, it believes “the Supreme Court has limited press freedom in ways that will have a chilling effect on our work and that may damage the free flow of information that is so necessary in a democratic society.”
“The same Constitution that protects the freedom of the press requires obedience to final decisions of the courts and respect for their rulings and judgments.” the statement continued. “That Time Inc. strongly disagrees with the courts provides no immunity.”
The investigation has even gone into the White House. The prosecutor for the case, Patrick Fitzgerald, even talked to President Bush, Vice President Cheney and others high in the administration over the leak.
We are deeply disappointed by Time Inc.’s decision to deliver the subpoenaed records. We faced similar pressures in 1978 when both our reporter Myron Farber and the Times Company were held in contempt of court for refusing to provide the names of confidential sources.
“We are deeply disappointed by Time Inc.’s decision to deliver the subpoenaed records. We faced similar pressures in 1978 when both our reporter Myron Farber and the Times Company were held in contempt of court for refusing to provide the names of confidential sources,” said Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of the New York Times
Al Hunt, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, in a New York Times story, said Mr. Novak, while protecting his sources, could probably shed some light on why Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper were facing jail on contempt charges, while he, apparently, was not.
“It does beg the question why Matt and Judy, and not Bob,” Mr. Hunt, an editor for Bloomberg News, continue in the article. “It’s just so confusing to citizens and people in our business. If Bob could provide some context, I think it would be helpful.”
What happens now should be interesting as the prosecution begins to look through the information. Whether or not the source will be revealed to the public is also
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
