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Boehner wins leak case lawsuit
Pay up, Baghdad Jim...House Minority Leader John A. Boehner yesterday achieved a definitive victory in his decadelong fight with a leading liberal Democrat who leaked an illegally taped 1996 telephone conversation among House Republican leaders. The Supreme Court yesterday let stand a lower federal court's ruling that Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington had wrongfully leaked the tape to two newspapers, contrary to House rules, and that Mr. Boehner could sue him for damages. "As I've said many times when you break the law in pursuit of a political opponent, you've gone too far," Mr. Boehner said yesterday after the court's decision. The lawsuit "was the right fight for the right reasons, and I am pleased to see it reach a successful conclusion." The fight began more than a decade ago amid the ethics war being waged against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and a Florida couple's illegal taping of a cell-phone conversation between the Georgia Republican and other House party leaders, including Mr. Boehner. The tape found its way into the press via Mr. McDermott, who then was the top Democrat on the House ethics panel investigating Mr. Gingrich and pushing for a special prosecutor in the case. Mr. McDermott had asked the Supreme Court to hear his appeal of a decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, arguing that his free-speech rights gave him the right to leak the illegal taping to the New York Times and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The trial judge called Mr. McDermott's actions "willful and knowing misconduct" that "rises to the level of malice." The justices yesterday refused to hear the appeal, without commenting on their action. The Seattle-area lawmaker said he was disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision but didn't regret giving journalists access to the tape. "I knew when I asked the Supreme Court to review this case that the odds were against me, since the court accepts only a small fraction of the cases submitted," he said. "Nonetheless, I thought that the constitutional principles presented the First Amendment protection of truthful speech and the separation of powers doctrine warranted the court's attention. I pursued this case based on my belief in the people's right to know, and I continue to believe it was my sworn responsibility to vigorously defend that right." But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a 5-4 decision in May, disagreed and added that Mr. McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was the top Democrat on the House ethics committee at the time. "When Representative McDermott became a member of the ethics committee, he voluntarily accepted a duty of confidentiality that covered his receipt and handling of the illegal recording," wrote the five-judge majority. "He therefore had no First Amendment right to disclose the tape to the media." House ethics panel members are barred by congressional rules from disclosing "any evidence relating to an investigation" without the panel's agreement. Lower courts have ruled that Mr. McDermott must pay Mr. Boehner $10,000 in actual damages, $50,000 in punitive damages, plus "reasonable" attorneys fees. Determining legal costs has been set aside while Mr. McDermott, who has created a legal-defense fund to pay his expenses in the case, appealed the verdict and his claim of constitutional issues. Mr. Boehner submitted an affidavit in 2000 putting his attorneys fees at $530,000, but the appeals process is estimated to have raised his costs to about $800,000. Last December, the then-Republican-led House ethics committee decided not to take action against Mr. McDermott, despite finding he broke ethics rules by letting reporters listen to the taped call. A Republican lawmaker familiar with the case said Democrats on the committee blocked punitive action against their colleague. Mr. McDermott is widely regarded on the left as a hero for the Boehner fight and other issues such liberal blogs as Daily Kos regularly encourage donations for his legal-defense fund. He appeared in the Michael Moore film "Fahrenheit 9/11," was one of fewer than 70 House members to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act and visited Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in the weeks before the U.S.-led invasion. Mr. Gingrich was heard on the December 1996 call by John and Alice Martin over a police radio scanner. In the call, he told Mr. Boehner and other Republican leaders how to react to the ethics accusations. The Martins gave the tape to Mr. McDermott in January 1997, and both newspapers published articles based on the tapes shortly afterward. The Martins pleaded guilty to violating a federal anti-wiretapping law and were fined $500 each. Posted by: tu3031 2007-12-04 |
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