Attorney Gen.: Reporters Can Be Prosecuted

[journalist3072]

Attorney Gen.: Reporters Can Be Prosecuted

41 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Sunday he believes journalists can be prosecuted for publishing classified information, citing an obligation to national security.

The nation's top law enforcer also said the government will not hesitate to track telephone calls made by reporters as part of a criminal leak investigation, but officials would not do so routinely and randomly.

"There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility," Gonzales said, referring to prosecutions. "We have an obligation to enforce those laws. We have an obligation to ensure that our national security is protected."

In recent months, journalists have been called into court to testify as part of investigations into leaks, including the unauthorized disclosure of a CIA operative's name as well as the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping program.

Gonzales said he would not comment specifically on whether The New York Times should be prosecuted for disclosing the NSA program last year based on classified information.

He also denied that authorities would randomly check journalists' records on domestic-to-domestic phone calls in an effort to find journalists' confidential sources.

"We don't engage in domestic-to-domestic surveillance without a court order," Gonzales said, under a "probable cause" legal standard.

Entire article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060521/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/prosecuting_reporters

OK...I just have to add my commentary here:

I guess in the Bush Crime Team's world, it's ok for them to talk to reporters about a covert CIA operative with unofficial cover, as retaliation against her husband for telling the truth about what he didn't find it Africa.

And it's ok to give information to Judith Miller from the NYT, so she can carry the Iraq WMD water for the Administration.

All other leaks, you understand, are very very bad.

[Beetwasher]

1. Ok, They Can Start W/ Novak

n/t

[wordpix2]

27. no, repukes only want to punish leakers of NSA spy program, not CIA-Plame-

gate leakers. :argh: :spank:

[Seabiscuit]

46. My first thought exactly. Fuckin' hyocritical bastids.

[shadowknows69]

2. Final nail in the coffin

of the great democracy we once were.

[mconvente]

3. That is scary as hell

How can we get out the stories on all the illegal stuff the Shrub Administration is doing if reporters are fearful of going to jail - this is definitely 1984 stuff right here...

[AnOhioan]

9. So.....

1928-Japan-The Zaibatsu (Commercial and Industrial interests)

1933-Italy-Mussolini

1937 USSR-Stalin

1939 Germany-Hitler

1966 China-Mao

2006 The United States-Bush


Quite a nice little group there, don't you think???

[grasswire]

11. welcome to DU

We need all the help we can get.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. If the press doesn't have a major fit

and allows this to happen, then they are beyond hope.

[AndyTiedye]

24. They OWN The Press

[Robbien]

5. Their illegal spying will not be prosecuted, us talking about it will be

If I lived in a foreign country, I would be afraid to come visit the USA. This is one scary country.

[Toots]

12. Remember when Senator Inhofe said he was "Outraged at the Outrage"

over the Torture pictures when they first became public.

[Triana]

6. Nice of him to THREATEN the press that way...

...if there was ANY semblance of "free" press left, that is now gone. Our government is threatening them and spying on them - and admittiing it.

The last time stuff like this happened -- and I hate to drag out the old chestnut again but it's the only other time in history that is comparable -- was during Hitler's reign.

Of course, that's where Junior and the entire BFEE cut their teeth on Nazism and fascism. It's where and when they made their family fortune. What else can we expect?

Same regime. Different century.

[grasswire]

13. Rove's grandfather's company built one of the death camps.

Seriously. His grandfather was a purveyor of death and misery to innocent people.

And the Bush family history of cooperation with Hitler and financing of the Third Reich is well known.

Why is it again that we can't draw these parallels? Why are we not allowed to mention family history, when values and philosophies and power and wealth are passed from one generation to the next?

[Triana]

22. Who says we can't draw these parallels?

I live by no such rules. I call 'em as I see 'em. Sure, it gets old to keep hearing it. But, if the shoe fits...

[grasswire]

35. our own leadership is afraid to do so

...and the press will protect the person whose family is exposed.

Can you imagine what would have happened in the 2004 debates if John Kerry had brought up the ties of Bushies to the Third Reich? That Rumsfeld's dad was SS? That Rove's grandfather built death camps? That W's ancestors financed Hitler? That George H. W. Bush himself consorts with Rev. Moon and makes money from it? What if the Carlyle Group was exposed by Kerry, with its war profiteering?

Oops. I forgot. Skull & Bones. Kerry couldn't do it.

Okay, what if Al Gore had done all this exposing in the 2000 debates?

The shrieking from the press would have raised the dead -- like a thousand banshees punishing those who would tell the people.

[Triana]

43. Part of me thinks...

...he should have done it anyway and let 'em shriek. Sometimes rude awakenenings are necessary.

The other part of me says "yea, but then Kerry would be shunned, made a pariah of, and marginalized for telling the TRUTH". Would the cost have been worth it? It would be 'out there' then. Maybe it'd have taken root, at least. Sown some seeds. Seeds of truth. Maybe those seeds would have outlived Kerry and his loss of the presidency and of face. Maybe not. I don't know.

Does the truth stand a snowball's chance in Hell in today's world? I don't have the answer. I just wish it would come shrieking in a deafening, indelible fashion -- soon.

[Supersedeas]

44. Gonzo knows that they will cower like dogs

[babylonsister]

7. How about VPs and Ps that leak names of undercover CIA agents?

:grr: :grr:

[wordpix2]

29. oh, you know that's allowed in BushWorld & journalists are encouraged

to wreck a CIA op and her operations as long as der Fuhrers * and Fudd say it's OK.

[parkenyc]

8. Tap This!

http://tapthis.cf.huffingtonpost.com

and watch this ANTI-WAR VIDEO/FLASH
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1246093

[acmejack]

10. He is a scary little prick

A scary little man well suited for his role in this dictatorship. He reads the law in a manner that justifies whatever stupidity the administration wishes to do. Dictatorship anybody?

[grasswire]

14. I agree

He is a very scary little prick.

[paulk]

31. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to be more of a lapdog

than Ashcroft.

Guess I was wrong....

[acmavm]

15. How wonderful do the quisling MFers that try to pass themselves off

as journalists think this administration is now?

Wonder if they understand that there's no one that they won't use or turn on. I mean, the press has been very very good to these guys. I wonder if they thought they'd cut 'em some slack.

[ArbustoBuster]

16. Gonzales swore to protect and uphold the Constitution.

He's betraying that oath every time he opens his mouth. Arrest, try, convict, and imprison this felon.

[AX10]

17. This is a crime family. As with all crime families.....

they will do anything to protect their corrupt members.

[wovenpaint]

18. I love the phrasing

"There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility,"

Maybe if they make a recording and play it backwards, it'll become crystal clear. :sarcasm:

[Ezlivin]

32. Yeah, 'cause the fucker didn't read the torture laws THAT closely

These criminals can always read between the lines to find some law to support them but never can see the boldfaced, italicized text that says do not torture.

[davekriss]

19. It's fitting that the Worst President, Ever...

...is served by the Worst Attorney General, Ever.

What utter bullsh*t: "'There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility,'" Gonzales said, referring to prosecutions." -- IT EITHER INDICATES CLEARLY OR IT DOES NOT! You don't go about destroying the freedoms of American Democracy by tortured, obfuscating interpretations of language that "seems to indicate"!

(O, wait, what was I thinking: If you're Gonzo in the Bushboy Regime, you DO go about destroying our free democracy in this way...and with a knowing grin, too)

we in the streets holla "jail to the thief" - follow
fuck wavin' flags bring these dragons to they knees
oil blood money make these killers ride cold
suspicious suicides people dyin' never told
it's all a part of playin' God so ya think we need 'em
while Bin Ashcroft take away ya rights to freedom
bear witness to the sickness of these dictators

hope you understand the time brother 'cause it's major

what would you do if you
knew all of the things we know
would you stand up for truth
or would you turn away too?
and then what if you saw
all of the things that's wrong
would you stand tall and strong?
or would you turn and walk away?

-- Paris, What Would You Do?, 2004

From the same song, "and with the 4th amendment gone eyes are on the 1st". Yup! Their eyes are on the prize. Complete control. Savor DU while we still have it, for, without change, we won't have it much longer. Who would've thought, ten years ago, how important a little mid-term election like 2006 could be?


On triple f*cking edit! I hope everyone here, too, understands that they'd prosecute us for posting anything classified, this is not just the NY Times they're talking about. They mean to put a chill on all media and thereby control perceptions, literally control what the masses experience as "reality". I was watching a FreespeechTV video recently, about the complicit major media, and on it a Foxnews program manager, with eyes wide open and smirk on his face says, "if we don't report it, did it really happen?" (F*ckface!)

I need to change my avatar. The times are major and call for more.

[shadowknows69]

26. I think we should stop calling him

worst president ever. it implies that he's done the job at all. I propose, "best US dictator ever"

[pooja]

20. Cuba??

The other day didn't George Bush say he wouldn't stop until Cuba was free. And If I have this right, doesn't Castro limit free speech.... So...draw your conclusions

[EVDebs]

21. And if they 'classify' all of their lies, they can prosecute everyone...

[smoogatz]

23. He's talking about the Espionage Act of 1917.

Described reasonably well here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act

It's still on the books, and provides for twenty years imprisonment and $10,000 fines for "convey(ing) information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies."

Under Bushco's tortured logic, any reporting of bad news about the War on Terror, let alone illegal domestic spying, could constitute a felony under the Espionage Act.

[treestar]

42. I've debated with those half wits that interpret that to mean that

criticism of the political decision to go to war is "treason." Damn Fascists.

[Rex]

25. Can presidents and vice-presidents be prosecuted, Mr. Torture?

Remember MSM lurking critters, this AG LOVES the idea of torturing people who are considered 'enemy noncombatants'. Guess which side journalists who leak fall on?

[PerceptionManagement]

28. I guess that means AG's and Presidents should be prosecuted too.

[Thor_MN]

30. Pre-emptive attack to counter their tracking reporters.

"The nation's top law enforcer also said the government will not hesitate to track telephone calls made by reporters as part of a criminal leak investigation, but officials would not do so routinely and randomly."

I take this to mean that they did track reporters calls and they know it's going to come out. This is their cover for it, because they can say any tracking they did was part of an investigation. Doubledip has always been about changing the rules when he is losing the game. Little Trelaine is in a snit about his poll numbers and wants to stop the bad news, so the side benfit is having a chilling effect on any reporting on their lies.

[Auntie Bush]

40. So this means no one can EV ER again report any CRIME the

bush* administration commits as they would naturally classify anything they do as classified. WE NO LONGER HAVE A FREE PRESS! If bush* et al ever murdered anyone...it could not be reported without fear of a 20 year jail term. The people need to hear this and manifest their OUTRAGE!

[lovuian]

33. Who is Gonzales to interpret law ... this is just threats to

leakers and reporters SHUT UP...

this is very threatening... I don't think its going to stop anybody...

[chatterboy]

34. How about this scary quote?

"I will say that I understand very much the role that the press plays in our society, the protection under the First Amendment we want to promote and respect, the right of the press. But it can't be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity."

The right we "would like to see" -- an imaginary right -- trumps the First Amendment? Benito, Francisco, Alberto.

http://chatterbyrondavis.blogspot.com

[Cha]

36. How about fatboy

bush's brain..how bout starting with him? I don't care if he's a reporter or not..he's a leaker and he needs to be proscecuted.

gonzales is using his fucking scare tactics :scared: :scared: on the reporters so they wouldn't dare write anything that can be construed as a LEAK.

Yeah, it's so much fun to live in the bushfearmongering world after the coup of 2000..

[Endangered Specie]

37. Why don't we just get this over with and hire Pravda?

:mad:

[Kenergy]

38. Translation:

Journalists will be jailed for telling the truth about what Bush is doing.

[sutz12]

39. Can the Attorney General be prosecuted?

:evilgrin:

[depakid]

41. He's actually advocating a chilling effect

Like he really needs to with the so called "mainstream" media.

The allowed him in knowing full well what he'd do- so the ones who helped to vote him in are just as much to blame.

[AzDar]

45. Gonzales is a brain-dead little freak, just like his Master. I cannot

wait (and I'm convinced it WILL come)until they are called to account for the irreparable damage their criminal syndicate has wrought upon the world.
Gonzales = Renfield...

[lebkuchen]

47. I've often wondered why everyone on FOX "News" wasn't already doing time

[baldguy]

48. People who intentionally put our foreign intelligence service at risk

Should be prosecuted. There should be no question about this.

The question is: will the AG go after officials of the current Regime who leak classified information with the same interest & intensity as he does critics of the current Regime?

Somehow, I don't think we should hold our collective breath for Gonzales to do his job in a non-partisan manner.

[WhiteTara]

49. the free press is dead

:cry:long live free press

[sarcasmo]

50. Only Liberal papers will be prosecuted.