Judge Defends Decision to Jail Miller

[cal04]

The federal judge who jailed a former New York Times reporter for refusing to name her source during the CIA leak investigation defended his decision Friday. Thomas F. Hogan, chief judge of Washington's federal district court, told a meeting of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association that he made the right call when he ruled there was no First Amendment protection for reporters to keep their sources confidential, especially in criminal matters.

The case of reporter Judith Miller began as a typical Washington political story as the White House tried to push back against critics in a brewing scandal, Hogan told the group. ``It was the perfect storm,'' he said, of Washington politics, the media and the law. In 2003, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence about Iraq's efforts to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger to justify going to war.

``Blood was spreading in the water,'' Hogan said. ``The sharks were gathering. It's typical Washington politics, except that this involved the commission of a crime.'' While the White House sought to deny Wilson's accusations, the identity of his wife - CIA officer Valerie Plame - was leaked to reporters, apparently in violation of a law designed to protect covert operatives.

I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, 55, Vice President Cheney's former top aide, has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to FBI agents and a federal grand jury about when he learned of Plame's identity and when he subsequently discussed it to reporters. Hogan, who oversees grand juries, got involved in the CIA leak investigation when Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald sought to compel several reporters to reveal their sources and what they were told about Plame. Fitzgerald tried to get evidence he needed elsewhere, Hogan said, describing the prosecutor as ``dogged'' and ``one of the best I have seen.''

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5787548,00.html

[Me.]

1. "one of the best I have seen.''

Amen to that!