Democrat Jim McDermott Found To Have Violated Federal Law
It is about time...
First amendment right my white hiney. It was an illegal tape recording. Distributing it to the media was a crime.
Unfortunately, neither the media nor McDermott (obviously) think so:
Got that? The media is 100% behind McDermott leaking this illegally recorded phone conversation. I wonder how these news organizations would feel if some blogger started publishing recordings of their reporters' private phone calls on the internet? They'd be outraged, of course, but notice they extend no such courtesy to the private phone calls of politicians.
I wonder if it isn't time to begin holding the media responsible for publishing illegally obtained information. In the McDermott case the reporters knew that the information they were receiving was from an illegal wiretap. In the NSA controversy the New York Times knew that that the information they published was confidential and from a source who was not supposed to be talking to the media. This happens all the time. The media routinely makes public information that has been illegally leaked.
If I stole somebody's television and then gave it to a friend who knew it was stolen so that he could sell it both he and I would be guilty of a crime. I'd be guilty of theft, he'd be guilty of trafficking stolen goods. Shouldn't these same standards apply to information published in the media?
I think they should.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal appeals court ruled today that Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., violated federal law by turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters nearly a decade ago.
In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott violated the rights of House Majority Leader John Boehner, who was heard on the 1996 call involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The court ordered McDermott to pay Boehner more than $700,000 for leaking the taped conversation. The figure includes $60,000 in damages and more than $600,000 in legal costs.
McDermott leaked a tape of a 1996 cell phone call involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to The New York Times and other news organizations.
The call included discussion by Gingrich, R-Ga., and other House GOP leaders about a House ethics committee investigation of Gingrich. Boehner, R-Ohio, was a Gingrich lieutenant at the time and is now House majority leader.
A lawyer for McDermott had argued that his actions were allowed under the First Amendment, and said a ruling against him would have "a huge chilling effect" on reporters and newsmakers alike.
First amendment right my white hiney. It was an illegal tape recording. Distributing it to the media was a crime.
Unfortunately, neither the media nor McDermott (obviously) think so:
Lawyers for 18 news organizations — including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post — filed a brief backing McDermott.
Got that? The media is 100% behind McDermott leaking this illegally recorded phone conversation. I wonder how these news organizations would feel if some blogger started publishing recordings of their reporters' private phone calls on the internet? They'd be outraged, of course, but notice they extend no such courtesy to the private phone calls of politicians.
I wonder if it isn't time to begin holding the media responsible for publishing illegally obtained information. In the McDermott case the reporters knew that the information they were receiving was from an illegal wiretap. In the NSA controversy the New York Times knew that that the information they published was confidential and from a source who was not supposed to be talking to the media. This happens all the time. The media routinely makes public information that has been illegally leaked.
If I stole somebody's television and then gave it to a friend who knew it was stolen so that he could sell it both he and I would be guilty of a crime. I'd be guilty of theft, he'd be guilty of trafficking stolen goods. Shouldn't these same standards apply to information published in the media?
I think they should.
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