Time reporter held in contempt for refusing to testify on CIA leak

WASHINGTON (AP) - Time magazine is appealing a judge's ruling that one of its reporters is in contempt of court for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of the identity of a covert CIA officer.

Faced with a similar contempt ruling, NBC-TV's "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert agreed to an interview with prosecutors about a telephone conversation he had in July 2003 with Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

The journalists' divergent decisions came after U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan, in a sealed ruling July 20, rejected their claims that the First Amendment protected them from having to testify. That ruling and Hogan's holding of Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper in contempt were made public Monday.

Grand jury subpoenas for Russert and Cooper were issued as part of the investigation into the leak of the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose name was disclosed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. Novak cited two "senior administration officials" as his sources.

In a statement Monday, NBC News said Russert was interviewed under oath Saturday by prosecutors as part of an agreement to avoid a protracted court fight.

Time and Cooper, however, did not agree to be interviewed and are appealing the judge's ruling, said Managing Editor Jim Kelly. If Time loses the appeal, Cooper could be jailed under Hogan's order until he agrees to appear, or a maximum of 18 months, and the magazine could be fined $1,000 a day.

"We are disappointed in the decision," Kelly said. "We don't think a journalist should be required to give up a confidential source. We're going to appeal it as far as it goes."

Neal Shapiro, president of NBC News, said the network agreed that forcing reporters to testify about their sources is "contrary to the First Amendment's guarantee of a free press." Shapiro said Russert answered "only limited questions" about the conversation with Libby "without revealing any information he learned in confidence."

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago issued the subpoenas. He was appointed as a special prosecutor in the leak case after Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself.

Novak mentioned Plame's name about a week after a newspaper published an opinion piece by her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, that criticized President Bush's claim in his 2003 State of the Union address that Iraq tried to obtain uranium from Niger.

The CIA had sent Wilson to Niger to check the allegation, and he concluded it was unfounded. Novak wrote that Plame had suggested her husband for the mission, a claim the couple has denied.

NBC's statement said Russert told Fitzgerald he did not know Plame's name or that she was a CIA officer, and that he did not give Libby that information. The statement said Libby had told the FBI about his conversation with Russert and requested that it be disclosed.

In June, prosecutors interviewed Washington Post reporter Glenn Kessler regarding two conversations he had with Libby in July 2003. Kessler has said he told prosecutors Libby did not mention Plame, Wilson or the CIA-backed trip to Niger and that he testified only because Libby signed a waiver releasing Kessler from any promise of confidentiality.

A number of Bush administration officials have appeared before the grand jury or have been interviewed by prosecutors and the FBI. Bush himself was interviewed in the White House on June 25, and Secretary of State Colin Powell was interviewed earlier this month.

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Hogan's decision: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04ms296a.pdf