home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Time - Man of the Year
/
Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
/
moy
/
040692
/
0406108.000
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-08-28
|
1KB
|
29 lines
NATION, Page 25American NotesINVESTIGATIONSLeak On, Washington
The Senate's ill-advised attempt to discover who leaked last
year's FBI confidential report on Anita Hill's
sexual-harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas has come
to a dead end. Last week Senate Rules and Administration
Committee chairman Wendell Ford rejected special counsel Peter
Fleming's request to subpoena the telephone records and
notebooks of New York Newsday's Timothy Phelps and National
Public Radio's Nina Totenberg, the two journalists who broke the
story. While urging Fleming to press ahead with his effort to
find the leakers (most likely Senate staff members), Ford
deprived the counsel of his most potent investigative weapon.
The Kentucky Democrat, who voted against Thomas' elevation to
the U.S. Supreme Court, explained that enforcement of the
subpoenas "could have a chilling effect on the media."
Implying that some leaks are laudable, Ford added that
sexual-harassment victims "have few places to turn when their
rights are violated" and that the subpoenas "could close a door
where more doors need opening." For now, the time-honored
tradition of Washington leaks will continue to drip and drip.