Thursday, September 30, 2004
New York Times to Ken Starr: "Come back! All is forgiven!!"
"As the New York Times gears up for what it argues is a First Amendment fight to stop federal prosecutors from learning the identities of two reporters' confidential sources, the paper is enlisting a surprising ally.
"The Times ... has retained Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor who, in years past, was a darling of the right and felt the sting of the paper's editorials ... to block a federal prosecutor at Chicago from obtaining phone records of reporters Philip Shenon and Judith Miller. The two reporters covered national-security issues following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"Prosecutors want the records for an investigation into alleged leaks - leaks that, they said, compromised investigations into financing of terrorism.
"The lawsuit ... marks a highly public union of strange bedfellows. In the past, Times editorial writers have taken barbed shots at the paper's current defender.
"As Mr. Starr prepared a final report on the Whitewater investigation, an editorial urged him to 'partly repair his reputation for bad judgment by getting this report right.'... Later it said he had 'diminished a reputation damaged for the most part by his own legal and public-relations decisions.'"...
NY Sun
Nothing improves a lawyer's judgment and reputation faster than your needing him.
"As the New York Times gears up for what it argues is a First Amendment fight to stop federal prosecutors from learning the identities of two reporters' confidential sources, the paper is enlisting a surprising ally.
"The Times ... has retained Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor who, in years past, was a darling of the right and felt the sting of the paper's editorials ... to block a federal prosecutor at Chicago from obtaining phone records of reporters Philip Shenon and Judith Miller. The two reporters covered national-security issues following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"Prosecutors want the records for an investigation into alleged leaks - leaks that, they said, compromised investigations into financing of terrorism.
"The lawsuit ... marks a highly public union of strange bedfellows. In the past, Times editorial writers have taken barbed shots at the paper's current defender.
"As Mr. Starr prepared a final report on the Whitewater investigation, an editorial urged him to 'partly repair his reputation for bad judgment by getting this report right.'... Later it said he had 'diminished a reputation damaged for the most part by his own legal and public-relations decisions.'"...
NY Sun
Nothing improves a lawyer's judgment and reputation faster than your needing him.
