Journalists Forced to Testify in CIA Leak Case

Posted on August 9, 2004

The Valerie Plame case now has journalists appearing before a grand jury. USA Today is reporting that Tim Russert, the host of Meet the Press and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine must both testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of the identity of a covert CIA officer. Apparently, the Valerie Plame investigation is going full speed ahead -- although you certainly wouldn't know it from the amount of media coverage the story is getting.

Any journalist knows he must do his best to keep his sources secret, but when national security is compromised by the revelation of the identity of an active CIA operative it seems unlikely that that the reporter's desire to protect his source is going to be given much deference. When Plame's name was leaked in Robert Novak's column, it set off a firestorm of speculation in journalistic circles. So who leaked Valerie Plame's name? Stay tuned...