Tim May wrote... "If it's a felony for _me_ to say "Sources tell me that Valerie Plame, the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, has been a CIA covert operative since 1980," it is a felony for Robert Novak to do so." Hum. Particularly in the era of the Internet and blogs. Even if "The Press" should have some special treatment, the clear and obvious thing to do is to set up an Internet Press of some minimal sort, and start "reporting". -TD

From: Tim May <timcmay@got.net> To: cypherpunks@lne.com Subject: Re: Wipe your Lamo notes now Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 16:15:49 -0700

On Monday, September 29, 2003, at 11:42 AM, Major Variola (ret) wrote:

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http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/187

The Subpoenas are Coming! By Mark Rasch Sep 29 2003 05:00AM PT

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The Bureau recently sent letters to a handful of reporters who have written stories about the Lamo case -- whether or not they have actually interviewed Lamo. The letters warn them to expect subpoenas for all documents relating to the hacker, including, apparently, their own notes, e-mails, impressions, interviews with third parties, independent investigations, privileged conversations and communications, off the record statements, and expense and travel reports related to stories about Lamo.

In short, everything.

Hypocrisy is the name of the game in Washington, as in all imperial cities.

Robert Novak, a reporter, revealed the name of a clandestine CIA operative, which is said to be a felony (the revealing of a name, that is). Will he face jail time, or does he get one of those special "exemptions for reporters"?

Long time readers here know that I argue we are all reporters, we are all writers, we are all ministers, we are all preachers. There are no special rights for "badged" or "licensed" reporters, writers, ministers, witch doctors.

If it's a felony for _me_ to say "Sources tell me that Valerie Plame, the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, has been a CIA covert operative since 1980," it is a felony for Robert Novak to do so.

And yet he will not be prosecuted, while Jim Bell was prosecuted essentially for "outing" the names of some lower-ranking investigators.

(As for the Plame case, Novak will not be prosecuted, because he's a loyal Republican and Ashcroft won't touch loyal Republicans. But were I to talk about Plame's role in assisting with CIA-sponsored diamond smuggling in Niger and Gabon, and her involvement with the death squads in South Africa in the early 80s, I could expect a visit from the Thought Police. So I won't talk about these things. Novak can talk about her, we cannot.)

And in the Lamo case, reporters who clam up will face Patriot Act consequences.

Will Robert Novak and Karl Rove get the same Patriot Act treatment? Don't be silly.

Washington is corruption on earth. The Great Satan needs to be destroyed with a 40 megaton bomb.

Corruption on earth.

--Tim May

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