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Novak wont give up source { October 1 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/cst-nws-legal01.htmlhttp://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/cst-nws-legal01.html
Novak unlikely to do time, and vows not to give up source
October 1, 2003
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak is unlikely to spend time behind bars for printing the name of a CIA employee -- and whoever it was who leaked him the name is also unlikely to do jail time, legal experts predicted.
The only time a government employee was convicted and sent to prison for leaking information to the press was in 1985 when Samuel Morison, a naval intelligence officer, gave satellite photos of a Soviet ship to Jane's Defence Weekly. He served two years in prison.
It's also rare for journalists to be jailed for refusing to divulge sources who leak them classified information.
"I think it is most unlikely he would ever be compelled to reveal the source," said Washington attorney Bob Bennett. "Knowing Bob Novak as I do, I am confident he would never reveal his source. I think it would be most unwise for the Justice Department to push a confrontation with him. That is certainly a possibility if he is held in contempt if a court orders him to reveal information, but hopefully cooler heads will prevail."
Novak vowed not to divulge which two "administration officials" -- he's not saying whether they're White House officials -- gave him the name of Valerie Plame in the days after her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, wrote a New York Times piece critical of President Bush on Iraq.
"That would be the end of my journalistic career -- reporters don't divulge sources," Novak said.
In this case, the leak threatens people Plame worked with, say some traditional defenders of reporters' right to protect sources.
"You're jeopardizing people's lives," said former White House Counsel Abner Mikva. "I consider leaking agents' names a really serious offense."
But most investigations of leaks in Washington never succeed: Who leaked the name of the CIA's Tel Aviv director to the New Republic in 1998? Who leaked Anita Hill's story to the press in 1991? Who leaked the investigation of former U.S. Rep. William Gray to the press in 1989?
"Part of the reason they're not successful is because we can't use torture and thumb screws in this country," said Jane Kirtley, professor of law and media ethics at the University of Minnesota. "It becomes extremely difficult to ferret out leakers. I can't think of one that's been successful."
The CIA reports classified intelligence leaks to the Justice Department weekly.
"Leaks, including intelligence-related leaks, are commonplace--they happen all the time," said Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst with the Federation of American Scientists. "But there are a finite number of people at the White House. Of those, only a fraction would be likely to know that Wilson's wife had a CIA affiliation. So conducting an investigation that encompasses all of those individuals should be feasible."
If Novak is subpoenaed, his success in asserting "reporter's privilege" against disclosing sources may depend upon whether the action is filed in the D.C. or Virginia federal circuit, said Gregg Leslie, legal director for the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press.
"The weakest case for journalistic privilege is one in which national security is at stake," said Cass Sustein, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. "This would be a relatively weak case for that."
Kirtley said media lawyers will be watching this case for another reason: "An interesting question is whether the government will use the power under the USA Patriot act to do surveillance of journalists who may have some knowledge about this with or without their knowledge. I don't think we can rule that out as a possibility."
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