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Thursday, August 03, 2006

US Gov't To Inspect Reporters Phone Calls Over Islamic Charity Leak

A federal prosecutor may inspect the telephone records of two New York Times reporters in an effort to identify their confidential sources, a federal appeals court in New York ruled yesterday.

[...] The case arose from a Chicago grand jurys investigation into who told the two reporters, Judith Miller and Philip Shenon, about actions the government was planning to take against two Islamic charities, Holy Land Foundation in Texas and Global Relief Foundation in Illinois. Though the government contended that calls from the reporters tipped off the charities to impending raids and asset seizures, the investigation appears to be focused on identifying the reporters sources. No testimony has been sought from the reporters, and there has been no indication that their actions are a subject of the investigation.