Reporter (NYT's Miller) Held in Contempt in CIA Probe

[Newsjock]

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/9860318.htm

CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A federal judge held a reporter in contempt Thursday for refusing to divulge confidential sources to prosecutors investigating the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.

U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan ordered New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed until she agrees to testify about her sources before a grand jury, but said she could remain free while pursuing an appeal. Miller could be jailed up to 18 months.

Hogan cited Supreme Court rulings that reporters do not have absolute First Amendment protection from testifying about confidential sources. He said there was ample evidence that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago, the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case, had exhausted other avenues of obtaining key testimony before issuing subpoenas to Miller and other reporters.

more

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Why not Novak??????

[indigobusiness]

3. Good question...

He isn't out of the woods...is he?

[MADem]

23. I do not even know

...if he is out of the HOSPITAL. Remember, he broke his hip in the shower...it sure was good timing for him. He can stall any court procedings for a few months while he deals with a 'painful' recovery, requiring 'extensive physical therapy.'

Remember Nixon's phlebitis? Most poor bastards take a blood thinner and get on with life...Nixon played that like a brain transplant! I've no doubt Novak's lawyers will play dodge and weave for as long as they can, and hope that the source gets outed by someone else.

[seemslikeadream]

5. Novak never has said whether he has been subpoenaed.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=25427

[eablair3]

20. Exactly .... Novak should be an aidor and abettor of the felony

Novak aided and abetted the felony - he ought to be arrested and jailed.

I wonder why, too, that he is not being asked or held in contempt.

[merh]

26. Maybe he is a target and they just want to freak him out

by messing with everyone else - he has to be thinking "why not me" and how does my hip heal when I am in jail!

[CookieD]

27. Because Novak is a potential target.

Even if the government does not officially declare Novak a target of their criminal investigation, he still has the right to take the Fifth. Judith Miller and the other reporters are mere witnesses. They aren't in the same position.

[skylarmae]

2. It's about time - we have to get to the bottom of this. Can't let

georgie porgie get away with this one.

[Catfight]

4. You can't hide behind the first amendment in a criminal investigation!

Come on, why doesn't Bush get to the bottom of this like he promised? Can't he keep ONE promise? I wish Edwards would have slapped a tag on Cheney's back at the debate that said, "I outed Plame! Jail Me!"

[lovuian]

6. Bye Judith Bye

Being a news reporter has its Perks this is one of them

[hansolsen]

7. Judith Miller belongs in jail for her yellow journalism reporting of WMD

in Iraq, when there was none, leading to an unjust war and tens of thousands of innocent civilian deaths in Iraq. She may also be culpable in the Plame case, but that is incidental.

[Gregorian]

8. Wow! Some sanity, in a sea of chaos.

Just the thought of Miller threatened with jail time, brings me a grin.

Woo hoo! We've been lost in the wilderness for so long. A tiny ray of light is so helpful. Let's hope it's not just America kicking it's last post mortem nerve ending.

[UpInArms]

9. it's more than that

it's got a hook in there through the back door.

Here's some thought provoking material:

http://www.john-loftus.com/wndquote_010504.asp

excerpt:

Says Loftus, "Grover Norquist's best friend is Karl Rove, the White House chief of staff, and apparently Norquist was able to fix things. He got extreme right wing Muslim people to be the gatekeepers in the White House. That's why moderate Americans couldn't speak out after 9-11. Moderate Muslims couldn't get into the White House because Norquist's friends were blocking their access. "

Alamoudi was at one time "regional representative" for ISNA's Washington, D.C., chapter. In 1998 he moderated a panel at an ISNA conference, called "Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Prisoners of Conscience in the U.S." The panelists included Sami al-Arian.

...more...

[annabanana]

10. just caught some coverage

of this on MSNBC.

[ladybugg33]

11. When is Novak going to jail?

We are seeing favortism here?

[seemslikeadream]

12. Novak never has said whether he has been subpoenaed.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=25427

[librechik]

13. Judith defended by famous civil rights attorney Floyd Abrams

"I think it's really frightening when journalists can be put in jail for doing their job effectively," Miller told reporters outside the courthouse.

What was your job exactly, Judith? Stenographer to the stars of statemanship? Cuz you sure ain't a REAL reporter!

Enjoy your stay in stir!

[Toby109]

14. Worse than Watergate?

Just got finished with John Dean's book. He wrote that there are no First Amendment rights when a crime has been committed and that one of the sure ways to get to the bottom of the Plame outing was threatening jail time for reporters who will not divulge their sources. Let's hope this works.

[flobee1kenobi]

15. Leaking military information

is NOT YOUR JOB!!! You deserve much more than jail time!

[w4rma]

16. That traitor should rot in jail. Outing Plame made our country more likely

to be bombed with a nuke or with a dirty bomb. I think alot of these right-wingers don't care since the best targets are all Democratic strongholds.

[realFedUp]

17. Don't put her near Martha....

I wouldn't wish Judy on anyone....

[janx]

18. Miller? Again? n/t

[Lostnote03]

19. AssCroft jailed....

.......a journalist/reporter for an extensive amount of time upon first entering his official role in the DOJ.....Every time I hear of the Plame case wrt the journalists constitutional protections(stonewalling), I am reminded of her plight.....Best Wishes

[dave123williams]

21. And, just curious, why isn't anybody from the Whitehouse in handcuffs?

I mean, they clearly leaked the information...

[Leilani]

22. She should look good in stripes.

Couldn t happen to a worse reporter.

She & her cohorts were the cheerleaders for this war.

[dolstein]

24. I've held Judith Miller in contempt for quite some time . . .

Sorry, couldn't reisist.

[farmbo]

28. Bad Pun! Bad Pun! ...Give yourself 20 lashes...

...for your PUNishment!

:toast:

[coreystone]

25. What are the rulings, and, will THIS Supreme Court uphold their previous

rulings???

"Hogan cited Supreme Court rulings that reporters do not have absolute First Amendment protection from testifying about confidential sources."

From the link:

"Fitzgerald is investigating whether a crime was committed when someone leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame...."

This from CURT ANDERSON of the Associated Press inferring IF a crime was committed.

IF, Fitzgerald is doing his job "impartially", then, Judith Miller may be the most "breakable" piece to break.

Just a thought!