Plamegate Update: Court Orders Reporters to Reveal Source of Leak

Posted on February 15, 2005

A federal appeals court has upheld the lower court's ruling which orders New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine must comply with a subpoena from a grand jury investigating whether the Bush administration illegally leaked CIA officer Valerie Plame's name to the news media in retaliation for her husband Ambassador Joe Wilson's refusal to lie about the fact that Iraq had purchased yellowcake, which is used in making WMD. Reuters reports that Miller and Cooper each face as much as 18 months in prison.

"There is no First Amendment privilege protecting the evidence sought," Judge David Sentelle wrote in the opinion. Judge Sentelle acknowledged the first amendment right of reporters not to reveal their sources, but said that it didn't apply in this case because a serious crime has been committed. He said he might have ruled otherwise "were the leak at issue in this case less harmful to national security or more vital to public debate."

I'm all for freedom of the press, but this Valerie Plame leak is very disturbing. Revealing the name of an active duty CIA spy endangers lives and our national security. Whoever leaked Plame's name to six reporters needs to be found and punished. But why hasn't Robert Novak (the guy who actually ran the column outing Plame) been forced to turn over the source? Neither Judith Miller nor Mr. Cooper leaked Plame's name -- Novak did.