 New
York, October 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is
deeply concerned that a federal judge has held another reporter in contempt
for not disclosing confidential sources to prosecutors investigating the
leak of a CIA operative's identity.
Judge Thomas F. Hogan today ordered New York Times reporter Judith
Miller jailed until she agrees to testify about her sources before a grand
jury, The Associated Press reported. She could be jailed up to 18 months.
Hogan, ruling in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said Miller
could remain free while pursuing an appeal. Her lawyer, Floyd Abrams,
said he would file notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit, the AP reported.
At least four other reporters—from NBC, Time magazine and
The Washington Post—have been subpoenaed in the probe into
which administration officials leaked the name of a undercover CIA operative.
A government official's willful disclosure of an undercover CIA officer
is a crime.
"This sends a troubling message that the United States is more willing
than ever to compel disclosure of confidential sources," CPJ Executive
Director Ann Cooper said. "It sets a poor example for the world, where
many governments compel journalists to cooperate with investigations—compromising
their independence and blocking their ability to gather news that officials
want to keep secret."
In August, Hogan found Time reporter Matthew Cooper in contempt.
Cooper later agreed to testify after one of his sources, vice presidential
aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, released him from a promise of confidentiality.
Miller and Times Executive Editor Bill Keller said they would not
agree to provide testimony even under those circumstances.
Syndicated columnist Robert Novak was the first to name Valerie Plame
as the CIA operative, but special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not
moved to compel testimony from Novak. Novak declined again today to say
whether he has been issued a subpoena.
Fitzgerald's office has declined to comment on the strategy of compelling
testimony from reporters who were not involved in the story that gave
rise to the potential crime. Miller never wrote about Plame.
Novak's July 14, 2003, column said that Plame is married to former U.S.
diplomat Joseph C. Wilson IV, whom the Bush administration sent to Niger
to investigate allegations that Iraq was attempting to buy enriched uranium.
Novak's column, which cited two unnamed administration sources, appeared
eight days after Wilson wrote an op-ed in The New York Times challenging
the government on the uranium issue. Other reports surfaced later with
Plame's identity, most suggesting that administration officials leaked
the name in retaliation against Wilson.
"Judy Miller has done nothing wrong," Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger
Jr. said in a statement. "She is not the person who revealed the identity
of a CIA agent. Yet she is the one who is facing time in jail while the
very people who exposed Ms. Plame remain unpunished. The special counsel
should be able to get to the bottom of this case without threatening reporters
with jail.
"The pending imprisonment of Judy Miller is an attack on the ability of
all journalists to report on the actions of governments, corporations
and others," Sulzberger said.
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