Sharks Smelling the Blood in the Water
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Plame Prosecutor Demands Time Journo Testify
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
WASHINGTON — A federal prosecutor on Tuesday demanded the grand jury testimony of Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper (search), even though Time Inc. has surrendered e-mails and other documents to the investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's identity.
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald (search) also opposed the request of Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller (search) to be granted home detention — instead of jail — for refusing to reveal their sources.
Fitzgerald said allowing them home confinement would make it easier for them to continue to defy a court order to testify.
Special treatment for journalists may "negate the coercive effect contemplated by federal law," Fitzgerald wrote.
"Journalists are not entitled to promise complete confidentiality — no one in America is," Fitzgerald wrote in filings with the court.
Miller and Cooper could be ordered to jail as early as Wednesday when U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan will hear arguments from Fitzgerald and lawyers for the reporters about whether they should testify.
Hogan has found the reporters in contempt of court for refusing to divulge their sources and he indicated last week that he is prepared to send them to jail if they do not cooperate.
In his court filings, Fitzgerald said it is essential for courts to enforce their contempt orders so that grand juries can get the evidence they need.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161595,00.html