JURIST - Paper Chase: Federal judge upholds media subpoenas in CIA leak probe

In a decision made public Monday, US District Judge Thomas Hogan has upheld subpoenas compelling NBC News' Tim Russert and Time magazine's Matthew Cooper to testify in a special prosecutor's probe into whether Bush administration officials illegally leaked a covert CIA officer's name to the media. In his opinion [PDF], Hogan rejected arguments that the subpoenas violated the reporters' privilege under the First Amendment and wrote that "this court holds that Cooper and Russert have no privilege, qualified or otherwise, excusing them from testifying before the grand jury in this matter." Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has subpoenaed the reporters to testify about conversations they had with an unidentified government official who leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative. Reuters has the full story.

UPDATE: Judge Hogan held Matthew Cooper and Time magazine in contempt Monday for refusing to name the government officials who disclosed the CIA agent's identity. Hogan ordered Cooper to jail and ordered Time to pay a fine of $1,000 a day, but suspended both sanctions while an appeal is filed. Tim Russert agreed to cooperate with the subpoena and was interviewed under oath over the weekend. The New York Times has more. Read Judge Hogan's order holding Cooper and Time in contempt here [PDF].

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