A federal judge yesterday refused to quash a subpoena seeking the testimony of Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper and ordered him to answer questions before a grand jury investigating whether Bush administration officials illegally leaked the identity of a CIA operative to the news media.
Cooper's lawyers argued that the Washington-based reporter had already in August answered limited questions about his contact with one Bush administration official when interviewed by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is investigating how Valerie Plame's name became known to the news media soon after her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, criticized the administration's argument for going to war in Iraq.
Cooper's lawyers said Fitzgerald's demand for a second chance to question Cooper was "unreasonable and oppressive." But U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan said the focus of Fitzgerald's investigation has shifted unexpectedly since that interview and he rightly seeks to ask other questions.
-- Carol D. Leonnig
