NYT: Novak Laments Threat to Jail 2 Reporters

[DeepModem Mom]

Writer in Sources Case Laments Threat to Jail 2 Reporters
By JACQUES STEINBERG
Published: June 30, 2005


Robert D. Novak, the columnist whose unmasking of a C.I.A. operative prompted an investigation of who had given her name to him and others, expressed disappointment yesterday that two other reporters faced going to jail for not cooperating in the case.

But Mr. Novak, in an appearance on "Inside Politics" on CNN and in a subsequent telephone interview, once again refused to answer questions about what contact, if any, he had had with the federal prosecutor conducting the investigation or about what extent he might have cooperated in the case.

He did say in the phone interview, as he had on CNN, that neither of the two reporters - Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine - faced going to jail because of anything that he might have done or not done.

"If anyone thinks they're going to jail because of me, it's madness," said Mr. Novak, a columnist for The Chicago Sun-Times and a CNN contributor. "Some people seem to think that."

Mr. Novak has chosen to maintain his silence about his role in the inquiry despite persistent demands from some journalists, as well as others in the Washington establishment, that he at least disclose whether he had received a subpoena in the case and, if so, how he had responded to it....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/30/politics/30novak.html

[benburch]

1. He could solve this problem by fessing up.

Bastard.

[Seabiscuit]

12. He probably did fess up. He's all bluster, but when he faces

the possibility of contempt and jail time he snivels, crawls around on all fours, and cooperates. Otherwise, he would be in the same boat with the other two reporters.

[susanna]

33. Typical chickenhawk.

Lets someone else do the actual fighting.

[Seabiscuit]

35. Bingo.

[warrens]

19. He's facing felony charges

And he knows it. That's why he's keeping his mouth shut. But he can't say, I won't speak because then they'll charge me with a felony, or they'll charge him with a felony now.

I have no pity for any of those three. Evidently, Judy Woodruff must have told the grand jury what she knew, since she acknowledged hearing from the White House. Chris Mathews too, it appears.

Something strange is going on.

[whistle]

2. Was Novak drunk or sobor during the interview?

[lebkuchen]

9. Either way, he is still a traitor

[quiet.american]

3. Amazing how Bush and minions are allergic to personal responsibility. n/t

[Mari333]

4. Douchebag.

[AGiordino]

5. Someone's gonna have to explain it to me

I'm not really sure what it means
(My baby's feelin funny in the morning
And she's havin trouble gettin into her jeans)
apologies to Jackson Brown

but I still don't understand why two Time reporters are goin down for Novak's outing of an undercover CIA agent. Do Republican supporters of Ave Bush bear no responsibility for their actions regardless of the total public nature of the act? Is this a schoolyard playground case of "I didn't do it; it was X and X?"
A reverse Watergate? Ace Editorial Reporter frames two marginal characters to avoid prosecution himself?
:grr: :scared: :sarcasm: :rant: :hide:

[Hepburn]

22. They were cited for contempt...

...in refusing to obey a valid order of the court compelling them to testify. This is their own conduct and it has nothing to do with Novak or anyone else. Fitzgerald called them before the GJ. He asked them questions, they refused to testify and cited as journalists they allegedly held certain privileges against testifying. Fitzgerald got a court order compelling Miller and Cooper to testify. Miller and Cooper still refused. The judge who gave the order, on a petition from Fitzgerald, cited Miller and Cooper for contempt of court ~ disobeying his order. The matter was appealed and it got to the SCOTUS which refused to grant cert (hear the case ~ and it takes 4 of the 9 judges to agree to take the case ~ "grant cert").

Now the judge who gave the order and found them in contempt, has given Miller and Cooper a deadline by which to comply (i.e., gave them an opportunity to "purge" themselves of the contempt) or he will impose sentence on them for their disobedience of his order.

[leveymg]

6. Novak did one of two things to avoid indictment: he gave up his source; or

he gave up other journalists he knew had accessed the same source.

I'm inclined today to believe the latter. We'll find out the identity of the source in a few weeks after the Grand Jury reconvenes to consider Cooper's notes.

Look for Scooter to resign, soon.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

7. And why would we believe anything that comes out of Nonuts' mouth?

He is just another neocon. If his lips are moving, he is lying. He had nothing to do with those reporters going to jail? Yeah. Right. He is in it right up to his beady little, hate mongering eyes. He sold out his "journalistic" integrity (such a funny phrase in connection with Nonuts)to save his own ass and hopefully he will never have another person in DC give him so much as the time of day.

[leveymg]

25. NVK: never will another person in DC give him so much as the time of day

He must have known there were going to be consequences for this scheme. It wasn't a normal "leak", but an evil, vindictive dirty trick to destroy a (relative) innocent's career in order to get at her husband, whose major offense was that he was telling the truth about a plot to get the U.S. into a war by lies. Outing Plame was also a felony, as I'm sure NVK was aware at the time.

His source must have assured him that any investigation would be effectively obstructed. Only a handful of people in this town could make such a promise. Most observers think that was Cheney or one of his troglodytes in the Veep's office.

Under these circumstances, it's a miracle that we've come so close to rolling up this nest of vipers. They must have been sure of their game plan and believed that the first shots of a war with Iran would have been fired by now, and all of Washington would be in too much of a panic to notice that the FBI got called off the case, or the US Attorney declined to prosecute, or some such dead end.

Cheney's gonna go, and the whole WH will collapse. Shrub is done for or will the lamest of dead duck Presidents.

[goclark]

28. I forgot, who is Scooter? nt

[Toots]

8. This piece of shit traitor needs his come-up-ence and the sooner the bette

I will smile wickedly the day I hear of his demise.

[zara]

10. a cold blooded reptile or a space alien,

but certainly without human warmth.
Still his column has been fun to read over the years as he delights in skewering republicans from the right.
Shakes things up.
So what if he's enabled a traitor? : (

[LeftHander]

11. Novak sang...

Fitz needed corroborating evidence of the leak thus he subpoenaed the other two... They refused thinking they were doing what was right...

SCOTUS refused to hear and closed the door. A crime was indeed committed, SCOTUS should of had access to transcripts from the Grand Jury and made that determination. Certainly if not the actual outing but also the ensuing coverup and obstruction.

I feel there was indeed criminal intent to obstruct the Plame investigation. Fitzpatrick needed to make the case bullet proof before issuing indictments. Otherwise it would not of gone this far and he would never of pushed for the subpoenas. Novak's silence makes perfect sense to me and he will be vindicated as a hero for testifying and revealing who committed the crime of outing Plame and for what reasons.

I am excited as hell and I always felt that this is what will bring Karl Rove and Cheney down....if not GW Bush himself.

[brentspeak]

17. I doubt it

Word is that Fitzgerald will file lesser charges. Some underling will therefore take all the blame, get a couple of years, and the real perps will never be known.

[Hepburn]

20. IMO,...

...Fitzgerald was going after the Big Fish in the WH. He would have in a heart beat given Novak immunity from prosecution to get to someone in the WH. That, my friend, is a prosecutor's wet dream ~ nailing someone like Cheney, Rove, etc. Talk about making a name for one's self. Wow. So, IMO, that is what Fitzgerald did, gave a grant of immunity to Novak from prosecution for his participation in outing Plame's identity. So, Novak sung and sung big time.

[oldtime dfl_er]

40. a likely scenario

Since the pig Novak has no conscience he would never have any compunction about singing, as you say, bigtime.

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/662042

[Theduckno2]

39. I agree, he is trying to make the case bulletproof.

I figure Novak spilled his guts and Fitzgerald is in the hunt for corraboration. He also has to prove that it wasn't an inadvertent slip up but systematic acts to out Valerie Plame. I'm optimistic that this will shine some light on this administration's dealings.:thumbsup:

[Miss Chybil]

13. Is Novak in a state with laws protecting journalist's sources? I don't

get it.

[Seabiscuit]

15. This is a federal prosecution. State laws don't apply.

[Miss Chybil]

21. Then why all the huff about New York not having such laws?

That seemed to be Miller's and Cooper's defense - that most states have protection laws and the only reason they were being prosecuted is because New York doesn't. I just don't understand how Novak could get away with this, unless he told, like so many say. But, if he told, then the Grand Jury knows who the leaker is and there is no reason to prosecute those who didn't even write about it to find out who it is.

[Hepburn]

24. They were citing State Precedents...

...in their arguments because there was no journalist privilege in federal law.

[Miss Chybil]

42. Oooooohhhh. Now I get it. Thanks. nt

[Seabiscuit]

34. Neither Novak nor the Prosecutor are talking - from what I've read,

that smells of a confidential deal. Otherwise, it makes no sense at all that Novak wouldn't have been subpoenaed. If subpoenaed and he refused to reveal his sources, he'd be cited with contempt and would be in the same boat as Miller and Cooper. But he isn't - one can therefore only speculate about the nature of the deal struck - from what I've read, he probably not only revealed his sources, he also told the prosecutor everything he knew about Miller and Cooper, and the prosecutor's going after Miller and Cooper to corroborate the sources Novak revealed.

As for the law issue, another poster already answered. Whatever privilege is claimed under any state law, it evaporates where criminal activity is involved.

That's why Novak's public huffing and puffing about the confidentiality of his sources back in 2003 was so much hot air - if he were a real journalist he'd know he had no privilege to conceal sources who have themselves committed federal crimes by outing a CIA operative. Miller and Cooper are learning the hard way the same principle - any privileged claimed is nonexistent in a case like this.

[Orion The Hunter]

14. That arrogant bastard Novak!

I hope they throw the book (hell, the whole library!!) at that smug jerk. Endangering the lives of undercover personnel for a scoop is just beyond reprehensible.

[CityDem]

16. Novak fessed up

Novak has already sang to the feds like a chicken. He is willing to let two other reporters go to jail for his treason.

[Hepburn]

18. I agree...

...Novak sung. If he had not, then Fitzgerald would have gone after an order compelling him to testify and the results would have been the same as the outcome for Miller and Cooper.

Novak is a chickenship asshole who IMO participated in the crime of outing Plame's name. And now thel little asswipe is acting like, gee, how AWFUL that reporters should go to jail for refusing to give up a source. Bullshit on this.

[Maeve]

23. Show your solidarity for them, Bobby! Join them in jail

It's the least you can do!

No, the least you can do is whine about a mess you helped create...

[msanthrope]

26. Oh, Fuck You, Bob. Go slither back under your rock....n/t

[stickdog]

27. My take is that Novakula teamed up with BushCo to offer up a patsy.

Miller & Cooper know better, though, and some BushCo bigwig is forcing them behind bars to save his ass.

[progressivebydesign]

29. I don't see why HE is not threatened with jail?? n/t

[DemoTex]

30. Maybe he has been threatened by the Grand Jury.

Maybe he is scared shitless. I sure hope so.

[dchill]

37. Uhh, because Novak DID answer the questions.

[Supersedeas]

31. the White House hatchman is suddenly silent....but still obedient?

[Rex]

32. Novak is a traitor

and will ALWAYS be remembered as one.

[WhiteTara]

36. MSNBC named him "worst" human on the planet tonight! eom

[dchill]

38. "The Plame Case Ain't What You Think"

Check out this intriguing and very plausible theory about what the whol Plame Affair may actually be about - the false/stovepiped intelligence about WMD.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3988883&mesg_id=3988883

You won't be disappointed.

[icymist]

41. Excellent article! Well worth a read!

From the article:
What started as a potential case of intentionally leaking the identity of an agent has now become about perjury and obstruction of justice in an attempt to conceal White House involvement in fixing the intelligence that led to war.

[90-percent]

43. patriot?

If Novak's actions eventually blow up the White House and expose them for the criminals they are, isn't he a "hero in error" for triggering the whole thing?

Could he have gone for what's right in writing his expose, even if it may have been subconscious?

Also, has there ever been anything in MSM about the consequences of this outing, to the people undercover working with Plame and the CIA investment in time, money and lives, for her deep cover ops?

-85%

[Massachusetts]

44. ""The Plame Case Ain't What You Think""

I need some asprin.......................