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| Spy-case reporters must reveal sources |
| 2003-10-15 |
| No, not "that" spy case. EFL: A federal judge has ordered five reporters to reveal sources for stories that portrayed Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear weapons scientist, as a chief suspect in a Chinese espionage investigation. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the reporters to answer questions about their sources and to provide Lee’s attorneys with notes and other documents from their reporting. "It does not detract from the importance of the First Amendment principle at stake to conclude, in the instant case at least," that making possible evidence of government leaks available for trial outweighs the interest of keeping sources confidential, Jackson wrote. Gee, I wonder if this could apply to any other spy case involving reporters? Lee is suing the Energy Department and Justice Department, alleging government officials provided private information about him to reporters and suggested he was a suspect in an investigation into the possible theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory. SEE: Atlanta Olympics Bombing, Anthrax Mailings, Joseph Wilson’s wife, etc.. The journalists ordered to give depositions under Jackson’s order are James Risen and Jeff Gerth of the New York Times, Robert Drogin of the Los Angeles Times, H. Josef Hebert of the AP and Pierre Thomas, formerly of CNN. Former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, now governor of New Mexico, has said in a deposition that he did not recall whether he talked to the reporters. Other Energy and Justice Department officials also said they did not recall such discussions or did not provide the reporters with the information. Saying "I can’t recall" means you can’t be procecuted for lying on a deposition. It’s become the statement of choice when you get caught doing something you shouldn’t have. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 Yeah, they get the FBI agent in the sack and the investigation goes away. That's encouraging espionage in the US, not discouraging it in China. The Chinese don't bother with elaborate trials for those suspected of spying for a foreign power - the Chinese procedure is essentially a summary execution.* Wen Ho Lee got to stay in America - if the US had a spy like him in China and this spy was discovered, he would be dead, after having gone through a round of severe beatings to find out what he had disclosed. Let me put it this way - they would cremate his body to avoid showing his relatives what had been done to him. * Note that I'm referring to actual spying, not the trumped-up charges against Chinese American academics doing social research in China. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-10-15 2:49:06 PM |
| #3 The Chinese have a much more effective way of discouraging espionage Yeah, they get the FBI agent in the sack and the investigation goes away. Wonder if Wen Ho Lee was banging anyone? |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-15 2:26:19 PM |
| #2 They don't need to recall, they just need to look at their call log and notes. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-10-15 11:17:43 AM |
| #1 A federal judge has ordered five reporters to reveal sources for stories that portrayed Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear weapons scientist, as a chief suspect in a Chinese espionage investigation. Only in America can a spy sue the government officials involved in investigating him. The Chinese have a much more effective way of discouraging espionage - a bullet in the back of the head. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-10-15 11:09:32 AM |