This Is How A Police State Protects “Secrets” - Marcy Wheeler/Salon

[JonLP24]

15. My problem with Judith Miller involves making shit up for front page stories

as far as refusing to disclose a source, I don't have a problem with that as a general journalism principle.

I could argue a post hoc defense of John Ashcroft & other Bush administration officials (they are the ones that started this ball rolling)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday by a former FBI translator because the information needed to prove the case was classified and protected by what is known as the "state secrets privilege."

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In defending the invocation of the state secrets privilege, Attorney General John Ashcroft wrote in a declaration to the court: "Based on my personal consideration of the matter, I have concluded that further disclosure of the information underlying in this case, including the nature of the duties of the plaintiff or the other contract translators at issue in this case reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage to the national security interests of the United States."

Edmonds' lawyer, Mark Zaid, said in a statement that the government has gone too far.

"The decision today represents another example of the Executive Branch's abusive nature of using secrecy as a weapon against whistleblowers," Zaid's statement said.

www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/07/06/fbi.translator/