Prosecutor in CIA Leak Case Demands Time Reporter Testify

AP ^ | July 5, 2005 | Pete Yost

[summer]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal prosecutor on Tuesday demanded that Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA officer's identity, even though Time Inc. has surrendered e-mails and other documents in the probe.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald also opposed the request of Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller to be granted home detention _ instead of jail _ for refusing to reveal their sources....

[cyncooper]

They're the only ones obsessed with that minute organ.

;)

[cyncooper]

Is Victoria saying that Novack cleared Plame's name before he published it?....

Novak stated publicly long ago that he was not urged strongly by his sources to not publish her name.

[sinkspur]

even priests are not immune when it comes to taking a confession of the sexual abuse of a child.

Priests will not violate the seal of confession even in the case of the sexual abuse of a child. And, in no jurisdiction that I'm aware of are they required by law to do so.

[summer]

Also see THIS -- a letter from Dems to President Bush, demanding Rove resign!

[oceanview]

yes, we must hope that is it. I don't really trust Novak per say, but hopefully he told the truth in this one.

[M. Thatcher]

I don't really trust Novak per say, but hopefully he told the truth in this one.

Oh, I trust him. He's often wrong, infuriating, and obtuse, but he's a straight arrow.

[trebb]

Priests will not violate the seal of confession even in the case of the sexual abuse of a child. And, in no jurisdiction that I'm aware of are they required by law to do so.

Perhaps they won't violate the confession, but there are some State laws that say they must in certain cases. I suppose enforcement might be tough, but I don't see where I would lose much sleep if I heard a priest turned in a child molester. Why should a creep get to unload his/her guilt at the expense of someone else? I guess that's why I prefer the Bible as the final Word rather than the religions of the world.

This link Discussion about confession confidentiality is just one of many available to let you know that some religious practices/covenants may not be given full deference in all cases.

[blogblogginaway]

There is no way in my opinion Karl Rove is the one who 'outed' Plame. If Cooper and Miller got that info. first hand from Rove they would have used it to nail the Bush administration in the '04 election. If Rove released these reporters from keeping their discussions confidential then it obviously CAN NOT be Rove who outed Plame. It makes no sense these reporters would go to jail for someone who said it was OK to testify before the grand jury in relation to their discussions.

No, Cooper and Miller could be going to jail tomorrow for failing to disclose their sources to the prosecutor. Their source/sources OBVIOUSLY desire to maintain their confidentiality.

Rove has testified as has Novak. Why is Novak not being held in contempt? Obviously he testified to his source. I say the prosecutor already knows where this information came from. So why hasn't the 'informant' been charged with a crime?

And another thing.....you can't tell me that the EPIC PROPORTIONS the press went to do keep Bush from winning reelection that if Rove did what O'Donnell is accusing him of they would not have used it to derail Bush's chances of winning. After all, Dan Rather and CBS actually LIED on national TV to try to keep Bush from winning. Don't tell me if the press actually had the TRUTH and that truth would have hurt Bush they wouldn't have used it.

Nah. In my mind the person they are protecting is one of their own.

[perfect stranger]

After looking at my keyboard and seeing the proximity and spacing of the letters I had to laugh because I have made that same type of mistake mysefl.

[Fedora]

Thanks for the additional info.

[perfect stranger]

I read right through that typo, and didn't even notice the mistake until you pointed it out.

[cyncooper]

I say the prosecutor already knows where this information came from.

See my post #91. The grand jury does have questions for Miller about a "specified government official".

[sinkspur]

Confidentiality, on the other hand, means holding information in trust and sharing it only in the interest of the person involved -- with their permission, or in order to seek consultation with another professional, or in order to protect others from being harmed.

This does not apply to Catholic priests. Under no circumstances are they permitted to share anything heard in the confessional with any third party, even if to protect others or themselves.

It is likely that a child molester who confesses a crime in the confessional will not be given absolution unless said molester turns himself in to the police. Regardless, the priest is still not permitted to share the information with the authorities.

The seal of confession is inviolate.

[Torie]

If there is a confession about a future intended crime, I don't think that is protected by any legal privilege (at least not for lawyers), nor should it. I suspect a failure to report it, is itself a crime. It should be in any event. JMO.

[Eva]

Ah, ha, I'm at least partially proven right, the prosecutor wants to talk to Cooper about the substance of his conversations with his sources (CIA?) on subjects other than the identity of Valerie Plame.

[cookcounty]

" well, the documents regarding Niger were forged - they were a poison pill planted (rumors are by the French) to discredit what was otherwise a fully developed piece of intel about the iraq/niger yellowcake purchase arrangements. that piece of the story has been lost in the haze of all this stuff about Plame."

Backgtound info:

70% of Niger's exports come from uranium exports.

Saddam had earlier bought uranium from Niger.

Niger was the destination of a major Iraqi trade mission which included major Iraqi Defense officials.

...and then along came Joe Wilson.

[Gaffer]

Time, NYT, Newsweek, etc. All the same.....NYT is only the most eggregious of the lot.

[curiosity]

Ever see the classic movie, I confess?

It's about a priest who hears a murder's confession, and then the murderer abuses the seal of the confessional by framing the priest.

One of the greatest crime dramas of all time, IMHO.

[XEHRpa]

>While I agree with the sentiment, he is incorrect as that husband-wives have confidentiality, attorney-clients have confidentiality, and I am unsure about priest-confessors but they may as well.

The big "BUT" is, of course, that the reporters don't keep the information to themselves, but want to pick and choose on what gets revealed and does not get revealed to the public... thus painting whatever skewed picture their bias leads them to paint. I say BS to reporter confidentiality. It's a scam to let them be unaccountable.