Thursday, July 14, 2005

"...an unanticipated shift in the grand jury's investigation."

"Ken Mehlman gives me the same headache in my eye that the president does when he speaks" - Stephanie Miller

Today's must read is Sidney Blumenthal's piece in Salon titled Rove's war.
    Both Cooper and Miller argued that they were entitled to journalistic privilege to protect their sources. But the court ruled against them. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan's opinion suggested that the prosecutor's case had deepened and widened.

    In discussing the sealed affidavit filed by Fitzgerald, and not privy to the defendants, Hogan stated that the "Special Counsel outlines in great detail the developments in this case and the investigation as a whole. The ex parte affidavit establishes that the government's focus has shifted as it has acquired additional information during the course of the investigation. Special Counsel now needs to pursue different avenues in order to complete its investigation." Judge Hogan concluded that "the subpoenas were not issued in an attempt to harass the [reporters], but rather stem from legitimate needs due to an unanticipated shift in the grand jury's investigation."
This information jibes completely with what Lawrence O'Donnell was saying on Monday's Al Franken Show, when he made the point that the judge most sympathetic to the reporters' case believed that the crime in question overwhelmed their need to protect their sources.

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