I don’t know if that’s true. Seems to me if witnesses could unilaterally decide not to testify on the off chance that maybe someday it could come back to bite them somehow, then there wouldn’t be such a thing as compelling testimony. And there’d be a lot fewer witnesses.
“A child can see 100 ways the government could prosecute the Fix reporter for reporting what they have hidden from us”
Maybe, but then her source wouldn’t doom her. They’d know she got the dirt somehow, because she reported it. The fact that they’re compelling her to testify about the source implies they’re going after the source, not her. You can say they could always backtracked and use her testimony against herself later. But, again, in that case the best evidence against her is the fact that she published the info, not who was her source.
So the government has laws that tells us when something we say might incriminate us? How could they possibly even know what they don’t know? Maybe she was sleeping with the detective? Maybe she stole his laptop? The government cannot possibly know when something you say will incriminate you. They can only surmise based upon their investigation.
But the person may know something she would say that would incriminate her.
And as for the mafia, they catch you for one crime, and offer a deal. You testify for immunity, or face the charge they have you on.
Do they also have laws that say when we should open the door for a knock and talk? No, the individual possesses those rights.