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SFGateCommittee chair says Justice officials' remarks are 'absurd'
Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Friday, June 15, 2007
(06-15) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The Bush administration, which opposes legislation to shield journalists from revealing their confidential sources, warned lawmakers Thursday that the measure's broad definition of journalists could protect the media wings of terrorist groups.
But House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., challenged the Justice Department's claim, calling it "totally absurd."
The administration made the assertion that terrorists would seek to evade prosecution by invoking a reporter's privilege in federal court at a Judiciary Committee hearing on the media shield bill. The bill would protect reporters, in most cases, from having to disclose their confidential sources or turn over documents to federal prosecutors.
Although the effort to protect reporters stalled last year in the House and Senate, supporters said its prospects appear to be improving in the new Congress controlled by Democrats.
Rachael Brand, assistant attorney general in the office of legal policy, said criminals might post documents or video on Web sites, then invoke the new protections for journalists in an effort to thwart prosecutors. The groups could include "media components of terrorist organizations," she said.
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