Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Court Declines Case of Reporters in Leak Case (Plame Case)
New York Times ^ | 4/19/2005 | Adam Liptak

Posted on 04/19/2005 3:12:31 PM PDT by stinkerpot65

Two reporters facing up to 18 months in jail for refusing to testify about their sources lost another round in the courts today. The reporters, Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, now have only one appeal left, to the United States Supreme Court.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: alamoudi; cialeak; cooper; globalrelieffund; grf; judithmiller; matthewcooper; miller; newyorktimes; nigerflap; plame; plamenamegame; reporters; thenewyorktimes; valerieplame
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-158 next last
To: Fedora

Tenet and his people were peeved about Wilson's article. So was Powell and his.


121 posted on 05/03/2005 5:06:02 PM PDT by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
Tenet and his people were peeved about Wilson's article. So was Powell and his.

Meanwhile, we have reason to believe that Pincus was very pleased with the article and guided by self-interest. Recall the strong suspicion that Wilson was actually a Pincus "client" -- who was being advised on how best to manipulate the press by advancing the story and giving it "legs".

Accordingly, I assume Pincus is commenting in a "protection mode".

122 posted on 05/03/2005 5:56:15 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 121 | View Replies]

To: okie01; cyncooper; Fedora

"Meanwhile, we have reason to believe that Pincus was very pleased with the article and guided by self-interest. Recall the strong suspicion that Wilson was actually a Pincus "client" -- who was being advised on how best to manipulate the press by advancing the story and giving it "legs"."

Absolutely. Pincus was citing Wilson, not by name, in articles before.

Note in the Japanese reporter's article Pincus says ``Joseph Wilson finally came forward the first week in July (2003) and wrote his own story."

This little known accuracy supports the accuracy of th Japanese reporting.


123 posted on 05/03/2005 6:08:50 PM PDT by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: okie01; cyncooper; Fedora

"Meanwhile, we have reason to believe that Pincus was very pleased with the article and guided by self-interest. Recall the strong suspicion that Wilson was actually a Pincus "client" -- who was being advised on how best to manipulate the press by advancing the story and giving it "legs"."

Absolutely. Pincus was citing Wilson, not by name, in articles before.

Note in the Japanese reporter's article Pincus says ``Joseph Wilson finally came forward the first week in July (2003) and wrote his own story."

This little known accuracy supports the accuracy of th Japanese reporting.


124 posted on 05/03/2005 6:09:39 PM PDT by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: stinkerpot65

The reporters have been asked to reveal the security analyst that was leaking information to them because it is suspected that the same analyst leaked information that was passed on to a terrorist support group that was about to be raided by the justice dept. In other words, the plan of attack on a conservative reporter that they hoped would spread to Karl Rove, boomeranged.


125 posted on 05/03/2005 6:14:44 PM PDT by Eva
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: okie01; cyncooper; Fedora; Eva
The court decision from February is now available non-pdf.

link

28

III. Applying this standard to the facts of this case, and considering first only the public record, I have no doubt that the leak at issue was a serious matter. Authorized Òto investigate and prosecute violations of any federal criminal laws related to the underlying alleged unauthorized disclosure, as well as federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, [his] investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses, see Letter from James B. Comey, Acting Attorney General, to Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney, Northern District of Illinois (Feb. 6, 2004), the special counsel is attempting to discover the origins of press reports describing Valerie Plame as a CIA operative monitoring weapons of mass destruction. See majority op. at 3-5.

Is that a hint?
126 posted on 05/03/2005 7:44:13 PM PDT by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 124 | View Replies]

To: Fedora; Shermy
"I spoke to (several members of) the Bush administration, and I got a call that day. The caller suddenly went off on a tangent and said, `By the way, why do you keep writing about Joe Wilson's trip? Don't you know it was arranged by his wife?''. . .Pincus went ahead and wrote about the leak and its background, but he didn't reveal his government source."

Lets keep in mind that Wilson himself was a Bush Administration government official.

...And all of this nonsense about protecting *criminal* sources has got to go.

Jail the reporters who won't name their (potentially fictitious) sources.

...

Jail them all.

127 posted on 05/03/2005 8:13:44 PM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: Southack; Shermy; okie01
Good points. On the point about Wilson himself being a Bush administration government official, Wilson has also mentioned that during the debate over Iraq he was trading information with State Department African specialist Walter Kansteiner, who like Wilson has a business relationship to Brent Scowcroft, also an active opponent of Bush's Iraq policy:

Walter H. Kansteiner, III

A founding Principal of The Scowcroft Group, Walter Kansteiner has over twenty years experience with African and emerging market business issues. Mr. Kansteiner has advised corporations on a wide range of mergers, acquisitions, and privatizations throughout Africa. Transactions that he has been involved with include telecommunications, forestry, mining, financial services, healthcare, and aviation services. Mr. Kansteiner advised the buy side on the $1.3 billion privatization of Telkom South Africa, to date the largest privatization in Africa.

Mr. Kansteiner rejoined the firm after serving two years as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. In this capacity, he was responsible for U.S. foreign policy in Africa. He was also the President’s personal representative to the G8 Africa Process. Prior to his initial affiliation with The Scowcroft Group, Mr. Kansteiner was Executive Vice President of a commodity trading and processing company, which specialized in tropical commodities (coffee, cocoa, and sugar). In addition to his business experience in emerging markets, Mr. Kansteiner served in the U.S. government as the Director of African Affairs on the National Security Council staff. He also served as the Africa specialist on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, and with the Department of Defense as a member of the strategic minerals task force. He holds graduate degrees in international economics and ethics from American University and Virginia Theological Seminary, respectively. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, chairs the Africa Policy Advisory Panel (a congressionally mandated advisory group), and serves on various boards in the U.S. and Africa.

128 posted on 05/03/2005 8:55:53 PM PDT by Fedora
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 127 | View Replies]

To: cyncooper

Don't forget Mrs. Pincus worked with Greg Thielmann, who was an official who went ape over the Iraq war.


129 posted on 05/03/2005 8:56:29 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude Adjustments Offered Here Free of Charge)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]

To: Royal Wulff

Because he cooperated?


130 posted on 05/03/2005 8:59:55 PM PDT by Howlin (North Carolina, where beer kegs are registered and illegal aliens run free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: Shermy; piasa; Southack; okie01; cyncooper; Eva
A related question: does Pincus' source have any relation to who the alleged "senior official" and other sources mentioned below were?

Mike Allen and Dana Priest with contribution from Richard Leiby, "Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry: CIA Agent's Identity Was Leaked to Media", The Washington Post, Sunday, September 28, 2003; Page A01

Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. Wilson had just revealed that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account touched off a political fracas over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.

"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.

Sources familiar with the conversations said the leakers were seeking to undercut Wilson's credibility. They alleged that Wilson, who was not a CIA employee, was selected for the Niger mission partly because his wife had recommended him. Wilson said in an interview yesterday that a reporter had told him that the leaker said, "The real issue is Wilson and his wife."

A source said reporters quoted a leaker as describing Wilson's wife as "fair game."

The official would not name the leakers for the record and would not name the journalists. The official said there was no indication that Bush knew about the calls.

It is rare for one Bush administration official to turn on another. Asked about the motive for describing the leaks, the senior official said the leaks were "wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility."

The alleged senior official and other sources cited above made statements implying they had direct knowledge of the leakers' identities and motive. If these statements were false as now appears to be likely, were the sources of these statements covering up for the actual leaker, and if so what is their relation to the actual leaker?

131 posted on 05/04/2005 12:13:06 AM PDT by Fedora
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: Fedora

Frankly, I don't believe anything from the mainstream media that is attributed to an anonymous source. In this case the Wilson's were proven to be politically motivated liars, so now we have to question whether the reporters knew the yellow cake story was a sham or if the reporters were taken in as well.


132 posted on 05/04/2005 5:59:47 AM PDT by Eva
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]

To: MeanWestTexan
There is no such thing as a journalistic privilege.

I disagree, there are times when protecting a source is an important part of getting a story out.

133 posted on 05/04/2005 6:03:06 AM PDT by Zeroisanumber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Zeroisanumber

Well, the law disagrees with you.


134 posted on 05/04/2005 7:02:58 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 133 | View Replies]

To: MeanWestTexan
Well, the law disagrees with you.

I don't support every law on the books.

135 posted on 05/04/2005 7:05:14 AM PDT by Zeroisanumber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 134 | View Replies]

To: Zeroisanumber

"I don't support every law on the books."

Nor I.

But every person has a duty to testify under the law and the common law, except with specially-created privileges. These are very few, being generally: husband-wife, penetent-paster, lawyer-client, and patient-doctor (but not dentist!).

These have been the only privileges-to-not-testify recognized by the law for 1,000 years.

So its more an absence of a law on the books.

While reasonable minds can disagree as to whether such a privilege SHOULD exist, judges have no business creating what the legislature refuses to create, considering the law has been very clear for so long.

This reporter asks the judges to create a new privilege for her. New laws are not the judiciary's job.


136 posted on 05/04/2005 7:15:50 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 135 | View Replies]

To: piasa
Don't forget Mrs. Pincus worked with Greg Thielmann, who was an official who went ape over the Iraq war.

In fact, I had forgotten. Thanks for the reminder.

137 posted on 05/04/2005 7:50:05 AM PDT by cyncooper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: Zeroisanumber
I disagree, there are times when protecting a source is an important part of getting a story out.

And one of the judges on the appellate court completely agrees with you yet found this is not one of those times.

138 posted on 05/04/2005 7:51:12 AM PDT by cyncooper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 133 | View Replies]

To: Fedora
"two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife."

Not coincidentally, Wilson and his wife Plame made 6 phone calls to Washington journalists that day...both claiming to work for the White House (only somewhat true).

139 posted on 05/04/2005 10:08:59 AM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]

To: Fedora; cyncooper

in the Daily Kos interview, Wilson hit again his peculiar obsession to say he had never seen the Niger documents and Andrea Mitchell showed them to him, but he didn't read them because he didn't have his "glasses." It's like he rehearsing an alibi.


140 posted on 05/04/2005 12:30:30 PM PDT by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-158 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson