By: Two weeks after a New York Times reporter was sent to jail for staying mum about a source, Ohio?s biggest newspaper may be on the verge of its own legal battle over a confidential source.
?We do not reveal a source once we?ve given the promise not to reveal the identity of a source,? PLaine Dealer editor Doug Clifton said after a federal court hearing Friday in Akron. ?If we have to go to jail, I guess we go to jail.?
A federal judge urged a prosecutor Friday to investigate how two sealed FBI documents were leaked to The Plain Dealer for a story about an investigation into corruption at Cleveland?s City Hall.
The prosecutor has not said if he plans to subpoena reporters who wrote this week about the investigation of ex-mayor Michael R. White. The editor of The Plain Dealer said the paper is prepared to protect its source.
Clifton?s remarks came after a defense attorney admitted at the hearing to giving an FBI memo to a Plain Dealer reporter writing about the probe. The judge then asked U.S. Attorney Gregory White to investigate the unauthorized release of two other documents.
The story was one of two articles that The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer had delayed publishing out of concern there would be an investigation over who disclosed the documents. Doug Clifton, the newspaper's editor, referred to the pieces in a June 30 column about the legal battle that led to the jailing of a New York Times reporter who refused to divulge a source.
A federal prosecutor had asked the judge to find out who leaked the information in an investigation of former Mayor White. No subpoenas had been issued to order anyone, including media representatives, to appear at Friday's hearing.
Attorney Jerome Emoff told U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin that he gave one of the documents to a Plain Dealer reporter. The memo described an FBI interview with Ricardo Teamor, a confidant of Michael White's who pleaded guilty in April to bribery.
Gwin told Emoff that he could be found in civil contempt of court and advised him of his right to an attorney.
Gwin urged U.S. Attorney Gregory A. White, who requested the hearing, to investigate and said he may appoint an independent investigator. The prosecutor said he would consult with the Justice Department before opening an investigation.
Emoff declined to comment after the hearing.
A message seeking comment was left for Clifton. The Plain Dealer reported that a lawyer it didn't identify allowed the newspaper to review the memo.
The Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, published the story Thursday after the weekly newspaper Scene wrote about the investigation and identified the story as one that was being withheld, Clifton said in Friday's edition.
``Once another medium identified us as a holder of the documents in question, holding back the story became moot,'' Clifton said in Friday's edition. ``And we think that it was a public service to be done in reporting the contents of the affidavit.''
The newspapers reported that the FBI investigated what it believed was widespread corruption at City Hall in which businesses paid bribes to Michael White for government contracts.
Editors at both newspapers said earlier that they intend to protect the identity of the person who provided the documents.
``If you rat a guy you're going to go to hell forever,'' Kotz said. ``I'm not going to rat anybody.''
Gregory White declined to comment Friday on whether he would subpoena reporters who received documents.
``I'm not going to speculate on steps that may be taken,'' he said.
Emoff represents Cleveland City Councilman Joe Jones, one of three defendants in a federal bribery case involving business consultant Nate Gray, also a friend of the former mayor.
Three other defense attorneys in the Gray case told Gwin they did not release the other two documents, both affidavits filed by FBI agents.
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