Wen Ho Lee Redux

The Wen Ho Lee espionage case refuses to die:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided federal appeals court for a second time has rejected four journalists' appeal of a judge's order directing them to testify about their confidential sources as part of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee's lawsuit against the government.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused, by a 4-4 vote, to grant a rehearing of the journalists' case before the full court. A majority of the court's 10 judges was required to grant a rehearing; two judges recused themselves.

One who favored hearing the case, Judge David S. Tatel, wrote in his dissent that Lee's claim for compensation pales in importance to people's right to know about what was believed to be nuclear espionage.

"It's hard to imagine how his (Lee's) interest could outweigh the public's interest in protecting journalists' ability to report without reservation on sensitive issues of national security," Tatel wrote.

I wonder how the NY Times will play this case considering the journalists involvement. Background on the case can be found here. The lefty spin by Josh Marshall is here.

More coverage here.