Time magazine said today that it would provide documents concerning the confidential sources of its reporter Matthew Cooper to a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, reports the New York Times. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down appeals from the magazine and a reporter for The New York Times, Judith Miller.
Federal Judge Thomas Hogan in Washington, D.C., said he would order the reporters jailed for up to 120 days if they do not agree to testify before the grand jury in the meantime. He also said that he would impose substantial fines on the magazine. The decision by a major news organization to disclose the identities of its confidential sources appears to be without recent precedent. A Time official told CNN: “We are not above the law.” The magazine made its decision over Cooper’s objections. Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times, said, “We are deeply disappointed by Time Inc.’s decision to deliver the subpoenaed records.” Judge Hogan has scheduled another hearing for Wednesday in the case.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/30/politics/30cnd-leak.html?hp&ex=112019