NYT: At Leak Inquiry's Center, a Circumspect Columnist (Novak)

[kskiska]

(snip)

As a syndicated columnist and fixture on cable-news shoutfests, Mr. Novak has opined from the right about some of the biggest stories of his time. He has been a stout cold warrior, a critic of Israeli policies and a passionate defender of military veterans who criticized Senator John Kerry's Vietnam War record.

But now Mr. Novak, 73, finds himself a central figure in perhaps the gravest confrontation between the government and the press in a generation, and he has been uncharacteristically circumspect.

With a federal judge having ordered two reporters to jail for refusing to name their sources to a grand jury investigating the disclosure of a covert C.I.A. officer, Mr. Novak, whose column identifying the officer set off this showdown, has been under increasing pressure in recent weeks to explain his role.

But he determinedly maintains his own counsel. On the C-Span "Washington Journal" this month, he calmly swatted away one caller who asked how it felt to watch others face jail. Then, when queried by Brian Lamb, the program's host, about the matter, he referred dismissively to the reporters, Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine.

"I don't know why they're upset with me," Mr. Novak said. "They ought to worry about themselves. I worry about myself."

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/politics/31novak.html?ei=5006&en=507e3ae4218f806a&ex=1105160400&partner=ALTAVISTA1&pagewanted=all&position=

[JohnnyRingo]

1. I respect Novak's privelidge to not reveal his sources

I think that when "journalists" are forced to disclose, it will mark the demise of whistleblowers everywhere.

That said...Novak is a douchebag:

<excerpt>
As reported by The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Mr. Novak said, "I'm not going to tell them who my original leak was."

"That'd be the end of my career," he added. "If you can't protect your sources, you're finished."

But Mr. Novak has at least once named a confidential source, disclosing in 2001 that Robert P. Hanssen, the former F.B.I. agent convicted of espionage, had been one several years earlier.

[mrbassman03]

6. I don't really consider leaking a CIA agent to be "whistleblowing"...

Maybe something about election fraud, but not this.

[truthpusher]

8. I agree but, Novak, in my opinion is a conspiritor...

...and not a reporter...you'll see. A real reporter will not fold under pressure and will face time for doing that. When it comes Novak's turn, he will spill the beans before going to jail...why...because he is not a real reporter, he has no ethic.

[JoFerret]

9. He didn't respect Valerie Plame's

right to confidentiality. What a creep he has always been and remains.

[MGKrebs]

10. Novak is (probably) complicit in the crime.

The analogy I like is:
If you know a bank robbery is going to take place, and you alert the cops, you don't have to say how you found out. But if you drive the getaway car and get caught, you damn sure have to rat out your crew or face the music.

[JohnnyRingo]

14. Good analogy....You make a valid point.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. this has nothing to do with confidential sources

The White House itself leaked the name to a reporter. It's the exact opposite of whistleblowing.

Call it Foghorning or something.

I hope Novak is forced to reveal his sources.

[Straight Shooter]

17. "Foghorn" Novak.

Simply brilliant, Magic Rat.

:thumbsup:

[merh]

18. Novak is an accomplice to a crime! When a reporter

is an accomplice to a crime, they cannot hide behind the 1st amendment. The leaking of the identity of a covert CIA operative is a crime and a national security risk, Novak maintaining the confidentiality is obstructing justice, not protecting a source. If Novak watched a murder, would you consider it okay that he withheld the identity of the murderer to write his exclusive???

Novak is a douchebag and a criminal. The Supreme Court has held for years that a journalist that is a witness to a crime or a participant to a crime cannot hide behind the 1st amendment.

Scum, douchebag, criminal == NOVAK!

[XOKCowboy]

2. I can't stand to even look at his face anymore...

much less listen to him on the news programs. He's lost any credibility he ever had.

We're called traitors by the freepers but Novak is a real traitor. He committed treason and is being let off the hook for it by the Bush administration.

He's scum. Pure and simple.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. I change the channel whenever I see Novak. Same when I see

Gordon Liddy or George Bush. I figure if I ever wanted to lead a life of crime, I couldn't learn from them anyways, because I don't have friends in high places, like they do.

BTW, Tucker Carlson trying to soften his image on CNN is so hokey. I get my news on Sri Lanka from other sources, before I listen to him.

[Gemini Cat]

3. Novak: the Rovian douche-bag.

How many people have now died as a result of his treason?

[bvar22]

4. The "source" that Novak is protecting....

..is a TRAITOR to America. As long as Novak protects him (or her) this TRAITOR will continue to have access to sensitive information at the Highest Levels. This TRAITOR is IN the White House, and his continued presence in the White House endangers ALL Americans!

If Novak loved America, he would expose this TRAITOR as his Patriotic Duty.

Why does Novak hate America?

[librechik]

13. yes--they both are TRAITORS

and they should pay the price, if there is any justice. Hard to have that though, since Pirates took over the ship of state.

[juliagoolia]

5. The kind of Man that Even a Mother can hate

and a family can be ashamed of! The kind that when he leaves the room everyone else is begins to breathe again. A man that if he sleeps at night in peace, must surely be a sociopathic demon!

Did I mention I don't like him at all?

[Swamp Rat]

11. Fucking lizard

[The Zanti Regent]

15. The fix is in. Novak will walk.

And the next time someone in the CIA refuses to blow Bush, Novak will go after them with Rove's blessings!

[Supersedeas]

16. Worry about yourself....he's his own number 1....Thug Patriotism

[GoldenOldie]

19. Novak is no better than a traitor

This old 71-year old man is no cub reporter. He knew exactly what he was doing when he exposed Valerie Plame. He has been in DC and around government long enough to know the ins and outs and he did this with full knowledge and purpose.