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| Home Front: Politix |
| Dow Jones & Co. File to Unseal Plame Material |
| 2005-11-04 |
| Yes, this is an editorial, but it contains information I was not even aware of. It appears to me hardly anyone reported this motion, and it may be because of the embarassment this information could cause for the press and their leftist political allies. Edited for the first part... Apart from Scooter Libby, the biggest loser by far in the Patrick Fitzgerald probe has been the press. The "leak" investigation that every liberal editorial board demanded has already sent one reporter to jail, and the damage is only going to get worse. Thanks to the disastrous New York Times legal strategy, the D.C. Circuit of Appeals dealt a major blow to a reporter's ability to protect his sources. Prosecutors everywhere will now be more inclined to call reporters to testify, under threat of prison time. And if Mr. Libby's case goes to trial, at least three reporters will be called as witnesses for the prosecution. Just wait until defense counsel starts examining their memories and reporting habits, not to mention the dominant political leanings in the newsrooms of NBC, Time magazine and the New York Times. "Meet the Press," indeed. Rather than join this parade of masochism, we thought we'd try to speed things along, as well as end one of the remaining mysteries in the probe. That's why Dow Jones & Co., this newspaper's parent company, filed a motion late Wednesday requesting that the federal district court unseal eight pages of redacted information that Mr. Fitzgerald used to justify throwing Judith Miller of the New York Times in the slammer. The pages were part of Judge David Tatel's concurring opinion in the ruling against Ms. Miller and Time magazine's Matthew Cooper. Judge Tatel said the eight pages showed that, with his "voluminous classified filings," Mr. Fitzgerald had "met his burden of demonstrating that the information [sought from the reporters] is both critical and unobtainable from any other source." The pages remain sealed, but now that Mr. Fitzgerald has indicted Mr. Libby and said "the substantial bulk" of his probe is "completed," there's no reason to keep those pages secret. The indictment itself discloses the nature and "major focus" of Mr. Fitzgerald's grand jury probe, including the fact that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. The special counsel's own extensive public discussion of the facts in the case should also have vitiated any protection from disclosure under grand jury rule of evidence 6(e). Future prosecutors and judges trying to decide whether to throw a reporter in jail should be able to inspect the evidence in this case, which will be an influential precedent. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #3 Well, if he has a Pulitzer, what more could we ask? |
| Posted by: .com 2005-11-04 09:29 |
| #2 I understand The New York Times is bring back veteran, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Jayson Blair to assist with thier failing legal and public relations strategies. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-04 09:21 |
| #1 So this is why the LA times was throwing Wilson under the bus, yesterday. {breaths deep} Ahhh, I love the smell of fear and disorganized retreat in the face of a superior enemy in the morning. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-11-04 06:17 |