No Easy Answers

An interesting waypoint in Miller/NYT's refusal to testify in the Holy Land, Global Relief cases.

Source documents:
http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/DOJ%2011-24%20letter.pdf
http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/DOJ%2011-25%20opposition.pdf

See http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2006/11/new_york_times.html

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Solicitor General
Washington, D.C. 20530
November 24, 2006

The Honorable William K. Suter
Clerk, The Supreme Court of the United States
Washington D.C. 20543

Re: New York Times v. Gonzales, No. 06A523

Dear General Suter:

Applicant has sought a stay of the mandate of the court of appeals to prevent the government from reviewing telephone records that will reveal the identity of confidential sources of applicant and its reporters. This Court has requested a response from the government and has inquired when, absent a stay, the review that applicant seeks to stay will take place.

The court of appeals' mandate should issue on Friday, November 24, 2006. While the government desires to review the records in question as expeditiously as possible, in light of the proceedings that must take place on remand, it is our belief that there is no likelihood that the government would see the records that applicant wants to keep confidential before Wednesday morning, November 29, 2006. To remove any doubt: the government will not review the telephone records in question before Wednesday morning unless (1) this Court has denied a stay by that time, and (2) the district court has authorized review of the records. Thus, in no circumstances would applicant's interests be prejudiced if the Court ruled on the stay application by the close of business Tuesday, November 28, 2006.

Sincerely,
Michael R. Dreeben
Deputy Solicitor General

cc: Counsel of record

                         No. 06A525




          IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

                    ____________________


            THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, APPLICANT

                             v.

                  ALBERTO GONZALES, ET AL.

                    ____________________

          ON APPLICATION FOR A STAY OF THE MANDATE
 PENDING THE FILING OF A PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
                     ____________________


       MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES IN OPPOSITION

                     ___________________


                              PAUL D. CLEMENT
                              Solicitor General
                              Counsel of Record

                              ALICE S. FISHER
                              Assistant Attorney General

                              MICHAEL R. DREEBEN
                              Deputy Solicitor General

                              DEBRA RIGGS BONAMICI
                              Assistant United States Attorney

                              Department of Justice
                              Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
                              (202) 514-2217

           IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

                     ____________________


                          No. 06A525


              THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, APPLICANT

                              v.

                   ALBERTO GONZALES, ET AL.

                     ____________________


            ON APPLICATION FOR A STAY OF THE MANDATE
   PENDING THE FILING OF A PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
  TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

                     ____________________


        MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES IN OPPOSITION

                     ____________________


     The Solicitor General, on behalf of the United States,

respectfully files this memorandum in opposition to the application

for a stay of the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for

the Second Circuit pending the filing of a petition for a writ of

certiorari.

                             INTRODUCTION

     In a ruling "limited to the facts before us," the court of

appeals held that (1) any qualified common law privilege for a

reporter's confidential sources "would be overcome as a matter of

law" on the facts of this case, thus making it "unnecessary" for

the court "to rule on whether such a privilege exists under Rule

                                 2

501" of the Federal Rules of Evidence, and (2) the First Amendment,

as authoritatively construed in Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665

(1972), provides no basis for a reporter to resist a grand jury

subpoena seeking information about the identity of the reporter's

sources ­ especially where, as in this case, the record establishes

"probable cause to believe that the press served as a conduit to

alert the targets of an asset freeze and/or searches."   The New

York Times Company v. Gonzales, 459 F.3d 160, 169, 171, 173 (2d

Cir. 2006).   After the full court of appeals denied rehearing en

banc, the panel denied applicant's request for a 30-day stay and

instead stayed issuance of the mandate for one calendar week to

allow applicant to seek a stay from this Court.   Applicant now

seeks a stay from this Court pending the filing of a petition for

a writ of certiorari.   The application should be denied.

     Applicant cannot show a reasonable probability that four

members of this Court would vote to grant review of the court of

appeals' decision, which creates no conflict of authority and is

tied to the unique facts of the case.   Nor can applicant show that

five members of this Court would vote to reverse the decision

below, which assumed the existence of a qualified reporter's

privilege, but found it overcome on the undisputed facts. Finally,

entry of a stay threatens to frustrate the public interest in a

prompt and thorough grand jury investigation of a vitally important

matter.  As the court of appeals stated:  "The disclosure of an

                                            3

impending asset freeze and/or search that is communicated to the

targets is of serious law enforcement concern, and there is no

suggestion of bad faith in the investigation or conduct of the

investigation."  459 F.3d at 174; id. at 171 (finding a "clear

showing of a compelling governmental interest in the investigation,

a clear showing of relevant and unique information in the

reporters' knowledge, and a clear showing of need").

       A stay would be particularly injurious to the public interest

in this case because it would cause irreparable harm to a

significant criminal investigation.  The statute of limitations

will imminently expire on December 3 and 13, 2006, on certain

substantive offenses that the grand jury is investigating.

Declaration of Patrick J. Fitzgerald ¶ 5, at 2-3 (Nov. 13, 2006).

In light of that potential bar to the grand jury's completion of

its work, delay holds a serious potential to thwart the full scope

of a criminal investigation. In contrast, the harm to applicant is

not nearly so great as it suggests.  The court's narrow holding in

this unusual case does not create a far-reaching precedent allowing

disclosure into the confidentiality of a reporter's sources.   And

any claim that telephone records unrelated to the present

investigation will be disclosed can be alleviated by applicant's

own cooperation.  The balance of equities therefore decidedly tips

against the relief requested.

                                          4

                                      STATEMENT

     1.     Following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World

Trade Center and the Pentagon, the government intensified efforts

to investigate fund-raising in the United States that supports

terrorist activities.  As part of that investigation, the

government came to suspect that two entities ­ the Holy Land

Foundation (HLF) and the Global Relief Foundation (GRF) ­ were

raising funds for terrorism.  The government therefore planned to

freeze the assets of HLF and GRF, search their offices, or both, on

December  4 and 14,   2001, respectively.   One day before the

government actions against HLF and GRF took place, however, New

York Times reporters contacted HLF and GRF to seek comment on the

imminent asset freezes by the government.  No official or agent of

the government was authorized to disclose the planned asset freezes

or searches of HLF and GRF. Disclosures of law enforcement actions

can violate federal criminal laws, including prohibitions against

obstruction of justice.  In each instance, the government believes

that the advance notice provided by the New York Times' reporters

reduced the effectiveness of the searches and compromised the

safety of FBI agents who participated in them.  459 F.3d at 162-

163; Gov't C.A. Br. 5-7.

     GRF's headquarters were located in Chicago, Illinois.  In

response to learning of the leaks of the government's plans to move

against HLF and GRF, the United States Attorney for the Northern

                                       5

District of Illinois opened a grand jury investigation to identify

the governmental employee or employees who told the New York Times'

reporters about the government's imminent action.  The government

has at all times treated the two reporters as witnesses rather than

subjects or targets of the investigation. But the government asked

the New York Times to provide the reporters' telephone records for

limited time frames in order to determine the sources of leaks from

the government.    When the New York Times refused to cooperate, the

government informed it that, in view of the extraordinary

circumstances  of the investigation and the exhaustion of

alternative avenues of inquiry, the government would seek to obtain

the telephone records from third parties. ^1  459 F.3d at 164-165;

Gov't C.A. Br. 7-9.

     2.   On August 9, 2004, the New York Times filed a civil action

in the Southern District of New York seeking a declaratory judgment

that privileges derived from the common law and the First Amendment

barred the government from enforcing a subpoena for the reporters'

telephone records held by third parties.  The government moved to



     1
        The government originally notified the New York Times that
it intended to seek telephone records covering a total of 33 days,
but it ultimately narrowed the time frame of records sought to a
total of eleven days, covering periods immediately before the
reporters' communications to HLF and GRF on December 3 and 13,
2001, concerning imminent government action against those entities,
and a period immediately before an article in the New York Times
pertaining to GRF. The records now at issue cover the following
time periods: September 27-30, 2001 (4 days), December 1-3, 2001 (3
days), and December 10-13 (4 days).

                                            6

dismiss the complaint on the ground that the New York Times had an

adequate remedy by moving to quash any such subpoenas under Federal

Rule of Criminal Procedure 17.  The district court denied the

motion, concluding that it had authority and  discretion to

entertain the action for a declaratory judgment.  The court then

granted summary judgment for the New York Times.  It held that both

the common law and the First Amendment supplied a qualified

privilege to reporters to protect confidential sources. It further

held that, in the circumstances of this case, those privileges

protected against compelled disclosure of the reporters' telephone

records held by third parties.  The New York Times Company v.

Alberto Gonzales, 382 F. Supp.2d 457 (S.D.N.Y. 2005); 459 F.3d at

165.

       3. The United States appealed, and the court of appeals

reversed. The court first concluded that Rule 17(c) of the Federal

Rules of Criminal Procedure did not preclude resort to the

declaratory judgment procedure and that the district court did not

abuse its discretion in deciding to entertain this action. The

court also concluded the New York Times could assert whatever

reporter's privileges might exist in order to oppose enforcement of

subpoenas for telephone records held by third parties (e.g., the

telephone service providers).  The court concluded that, "so long

as the third party plays an `integral role' in reporters' work, the

records of third parties detailing that work are, when sought by

                                           7

the government, covered by the same privileges afforded to the

reporters themselves and their personal records." 459 F.3d at 168.

The court, however, concluded that no valid claims of privilege

exist in this case.  Id. at 168-174.

     a.   As to the common law, the court determined that it was

"unnecessary   * * *  for us to rule on whether [a   qualified

reporter's] privilege exists under Rule 501" of the Federal Rules

of Evidence, because "it would be overcome as a matter of law" on

the facts of this case.  459 F.3d at 169.  The court began by

agreeing with the district court that any possible common law

privilege for a reporter's confidential sources would be qualified,

rather than absolute. ^2 Ibid.  The court explained that "the

government has a highly compelling and legitimate interest in

preventing disclosure of some matters and that * * * interest would

be seriously compromised if the press became a conduit protected by

an absolute privilege through which individuals might covertly

cause disclosure."  Ibid.  The court next held that it need not

determine the precise scope of any qualified privilege, because

"whatever standard is used, the privilege has been overcome as a


     2
          In the district court, the New York Times had
unsuccessfully advocated an essentially absolute privilege, 382
F.Supp.2d at 501, but in the court of appeals, the Times
effectively abandoned that position by relegating it to a footnote
and stating that, because the government had assertedly failed to
overcome a qualified privilege, "there is no need for th[e] [court
of appeals] to go further at this time." Appl. C.A. Br. 61 n.22.

                                            8

matter of law on the facts before us." ^3  Id. at 170.

     The court of appeals reasoned that the grand jury's

investigation focused both on the unauthorized disclosure of the

government's planned asset freezes and searches and on the

reporters' communications to the foundations at issue.  The

reporters' communications, the court noted, "had the effect of

alerting the[] [foundations] to those plans, perhaps endangering

federal agents and reducing the efficacy of the actions." 459 F.3d

at 170.    The court concluded that the government had a "compelling

interest" in protecting the confidentiality of its actions to

thwart terrorist financing, particularly where unauthorized

disclosures "may constitute a serious obstruction of justice."

Ibid.

     The court also found it "beyond argument that the evidence

from the reporters is on its face critical" to the grand jury

investigation.  459 F.3d at 170.  First, the court noted, the

reporters were the only witnesses, other than the sources

themselves, who could describe the circumstances of the leaks.

Ibid.  Second, "the reporters were not passive collectors of


     3
        The court of appeals described three different formulations
of the asserted qualified privilege, 459 F.3d at 169-170, including
that advocated by applicant (Appl. C.A. Br. 61): "a test requiring
a showing that the information sought is `highly material and
relevant, necessary or critical to the maintenance of the claim,
and not obtainable from available sources.'" 459 F.3d at 169-170
(quoting In re Petroleum Prods. Antitrust Litig., 680 F.2d 5, 7 (2d
Cir. 1982)).

                                       9

information whose evidence is a convenient means for the government

to identify an official prone to indiscretion."  Ibid.  Rather,

"the communications to the two foundations were made by the

reporters themselves and may have altered the results of the asset

freezes and searches."  Ibid.  The court thus determined that the

reporters' information is "critical" to the investigation: "There

is simply no substitute for the evidence they have."  Ibid.

       The court stressed that its "holding is limited to the facts

before" it, i.e., where "the reporters were active participants in

the alerting of the targets."  459 F.3d at 171 & n.5.  The court

observed that, in this context ­ where reporters made disclosures

of planned asset freezes or searches to the targets of those

actions ­ the limited information sought by the grand jury would

not imperil "a free press."  Ibid.  The court explained that

"[l]earning of imminent law enforcement asset freezes/searches and

informing targets of them is not an activity essential, or common,

to journalism." Ibid.  The court added that it saw "no public

interest in having information on imminent asset freezes/searches

flow to the public, much less to the targets." Ibid.

       b. As to the First Amendment, the court of appeals recognized

that this Court's decision in Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665

(1972), stands as the "governing precedent regarding reporters'

protection under the First Amendment from disclosing confidential

sources."  459 F.3d at 172.  The court stated that Branzburg held

                                   10

that the First Amendment does not give reporters any privilege to

withhold evidence from a grand jury greater than privileges held by

other citizens. Ibid. (citing Branzburg, 408 U.S. at 690).  While

the court observed that Branzburg said that a grand jury

investigation that is not conducted in good faith might give rise

to First Amendment issues, ibid. (citing Branzburg, 408 U.S. at

707), the court concluded that the law enforcement interests in

this case are genuine and serious, and "there is no suggestion of

bad faith in the investigation or conduct of the investigation."

Id. at 174.

      Accordingly, the court vacated the district court's judgment

and remanded for it to enter judgment in accordance with the court

of appeals' opinion, "without prejudice to the district court's

redaction of materials irrelevant to the investigation upon an

offer of appropriate cooperation." ^4  459 F.3d at 174.

      c.   Judge Sack dissented.  459 F.3d at 174-189.  Judge Sack

would have adopted a qualified common law privilege for reporters

in the "leak" context that contained three elements: "(1) that the


      4
        In both its common law and First Amendment discussions, the
court of appeals noted that the New York Times expressed concern
about the "overbreadth" of the proposed subpoenas, which would seek
telephone records that would reveal sources irrelevant to the
present investigation. The court's response was that this "problem
can be remedied by redaction with the cooperation of the Times and
its reporters."    Id. at 174 & n.8; see also id. at 171 ("the
government, if offered cooperation that eliminates the need for the
examination of the Times' phone records in gross, cannot resist the
narrowing of the information to be produced.").

                                      11

information being sought is necessary ­ highly material and

relevant, necessary or critical, (2) that the information is not

obtainable from other available sources, and (3) that nondisclosure

of the information would be contrary to the public interest, taking

into account both the public interest in compelling disclosure and

the public interest in news gathering and maintaining a free flow

of information to citizens."  Id. at 187 (citations and internal

quotation marks omitted). On the present record, the dissent would

have found that the government had not made the showings necessary

to overcome a qualified privilege, so formulated.  Id. at 187-189.

In particular, Judge Sack believed that the government's failure to

furnish specific information about the course of the grand jury

investigation meant that it had not sufficiently established: the

materiality and relevance of the information sought; the

government's exhaustion of alternative means to identify the

sources of the leaks; or the reasons why the public interest

balancing test that the dissent fashioned would be satisfied.

Ibid.

     4.   On September 1, 2006, the New York Times filed a petition

for rehearing en banc.  On September 7, 2006, the United States

filed a motion requesting that the court of appeals expedite review

of the appellee's petition for rehearing en banc.  In support of

its motion, the government submitted a declaration by United States

Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, stating that the five-year statute

                                  12

of limitations on certain substantive offenses under investigation

will expire in December 2006:

     The disclosures that are the subject of the grand jury's
     investigation include disclosures that were made on or
     about December 3 and December 13, 2001.  Thus, the
     statute of limitations applicable to certain substantive
     offenses based on those disclosures will expire on or
     about December 3 and December 13, 2006.

Declaration of Patrick J. Fitzgerald (September 3, 2006).

     On November 2, 2006, the full court of appeals denied the New

York Times' petition for rehearing en banc without ordering a

response from the government.  Under Federal Rule of Appellate

Procedure 41(b), the mandate would ordinarily issue seven calendar

days after the denial of the petition for rehearing.  Under Rule

41(d)(1), however, the filing of a motion for stay of the mandate

delays the issuance of the mandate until the court disposes of the

motion.

     On November 9, 2006, The New York Times filed a motion in the

court of appeals for a 30-day stay of the mandate pending the

filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari.  The United States

opposed that motion, again emphasizing the looming expiration of

the statute of limitations for certain substantive crimes under

investigation and attaching an affidavit from United States

Attorney Fitzgerald.  On November 16, 2006, the court of appeals

entered an order staying the issuance of the mandate for one

calendar week to permit the New York Times to seek a stay from this

Court.

                                  13

                               ARGUMENT

     THE APPLICATION FOR A STAY OF THE MANDATE PENDING THE FILING
     OF A PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI SHOULD BE DENIED

     To secure a stay pending the filing and disposition of a

petition for writ of certiorari, an applicant must show that there

is "a reasonable probability that certiorari will be granted * * *,

a significant possibility that the judgment below will be reversed,

and a likelihood of irreparable harm (assuming the correctness of

the applicant's position) if the judgment is not stayed."   Barnes

v. E-Systems, Inc., 501 U.S. 1301, 1302 (1991) (Scalia, J., in

chambers); see Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v.

Casey, 510 U.S. 1309, 1310 (1994) (Souter, J., in chambers). "[I]n

a close case it may [also] be appropriate to `balance the equities'

­ to explore the relative harms to applicant and respondent, as

well as the interests of the public at large."  Rostker v.

Goldberg, 448 U.S. 1306, 1308 (1980) (Brennan, J., in chambers).

When, as in this case, the court of appeals has denied a stay, the

applicant's burden "is particularly heavy."  Beame v. Friends of

the Earth, 434 U.S. 1310, 1312 (1977) (Marshall, J., in chambers).

"The burden is on the applicant to `rebut the presumption that the

decision below -- both on the merits and on the proper interim

disposition -- is correct.'"  Casey, 510 U.S. at 1310 (quoting

Rostker, 448 U.S. at 1308)).

     Applicant cannot make the requisite showing in this case.

There is no reasonable probability that this Court will grant

                                        14

certiorari or reverse the court of appeals' decision. The court of

appeals did not resolve whether a common law qualified reporter's

privilege exists in a grand jury investigation.  Rather, it held

only that, if one exists and whatever its scope, it was overcome on

the facts of this particular case.  That decision is correct,

factbound, and creates no conflict of authority.  The court's

rejection of a First Amendment privilege is also consistent with,

and indeed compelled by, Branzburg v. Hayes, and it too raises no

conflict with other authority that would warrant review.  Even if

review were warranted on the general issue of a reporter's

privilege, this case presents a highly atypical fact pattern, in

which the reporters themselves were active participants in alerting

the targets of asset freeze and searches to imminent government

action.  In that circumstance, the case for disclosure of the

reporter's telephone records is compelling: the government's

investigation is manifestly important; the reporters' information

is critical; and "[t]here is simply no substitute for the evidence

they have." 459 F.3d at 170.  For those and other reasons ­

including that this case involves an assertion of privilege in

telephone records held by third parties, rather than the usual

claim of privilege for the reporter's own records or testimony ­

this case would provide an exceptionally unsuitable vehicle for

consideration of the general legal issues that applicant seek to

raise.

                                  15

     Finally, if it is necessary to consider the stay equities, the

public interest strongly favors denial of the stay. The government

is nearing the end of the limitations period on certain substantive

criminal charges stemming from the disclosures at issue.  While

other criminal charges may remain, it would unreasonably frustrate

the grand jury's investigation if delay prevented full and adequate

consideration of the serious potential criminal charges at issue.

That irreparable harm to the public interest strongly counsels

against a stay.  In contrast, the harm faced by applicant is

limited and can be reduced by measures within applicant's control.

     A.    Applicant Cannot Establish A Reasonable Probability That
           The Court Will Grant Certiorari Or Reverse the Judgment
           In This Case

     Applicant's primary submission (Appl. 8-12) is that conflicts

in authority warrant this Court's review of both the qualified

common-law privilege issue and the First Amendment issue. Contrary

to that claim, the court of appeals' decision does not create or

deepen any such asserted conflicts.  And unique features of this

case ­ including the involvement of reporters in disclosures under

investigation and their assertion of the privilege as to telephone

records held by third parties ­ further diminish any likelihood

that the Court would grant certiorari or reverse the judgment

below.

     1.   Applicant argues (App. 9-10) that courts are in disarray

on whether the First Amendment protects reporters against

                                    16

compulsion to reveal confidential sources in criminal proceedings.

In fact, since this Court's rejection of any such privilege in the

grand jury context in Branzburg v. Hayes, no federal appellate

decision has recognized any First Amendment protection for

reporters who interpose a confidential-source privilege against a

grand jury subpoena.

     Branzburg itself resolved the question whether the First

Amendment protects a reporter's confidential sources in a good-

faith grand jury investigation: it held that no special First

Amendment protection exists.  408 U.S. at 707-708; see Cohen v.

Cowles Media Co., 501 U.S. 663, 669 (1991) (the First Amendment

does not "relieve a newspaper reporter of the obligation shared by

all citizens to respond to a grand jury subpoena and answer

questions relevant to a criminal investigation, even though the

reporter might be required to reveal a confidential source");

University of Pennsylvania v. EEOC, 493 U.S. 182, 201 (1990)

(Branzburg "rejected the notion that under the First Amendment a

reporter could not be required to appear or to testify as to

information obtained in confidence without a special showing that

the reporter's testimony was necessary").  Since that time, every

federal appellate court that has resolved the issue has followed

Branzburg's holding. ^5


     5
        See, e.g., In re: Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 438
F.3d 1141, 1142 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 2977 (2005);
In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 5 F.2d 397, 399-404 (9th Cir. 1993)

                                    17

      Applicant cites cases from three circuits (the First, Third,

and Eleventh), apart from the court of appeals below, that,

applicant claims, have recognized a reporter's privilege under the

First Amendment in criminal cases.  Appl. 9 (citing In re Special

Proceedings, 373 F.3d 37, 45 (1st Cir. 2004); United States v.

LaRouche Campaign, 841 F.2d 1176, 1181 (1st Cir. 1988); In re Grand

Jury Subpoena of Williams, 766 F. Supp. 358, 367 (W.D. Pa. 1991),

affirmed by an equally divided court, 963 F.2d 567 (3d Cir. 1980)

(en banc), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1126 (1981); United States v.

Cuthbertson, 630 F.2d 139, 146-147 (3d Cir. 1980), cert. denied,

449 U.S. 1126 (1981); United States v. Caporale, 806 F.2d 1487,

1504 (11th Cir. 1986)).  None of those decisions assists it. ^6



(no privilege in good-faith grand jury inquiry involving legitimate
law enforcement needs, where information sought does not have only
a remote and tenuous relationship to the investigation); United
States v. Smith, 135 F.3d 963, 968-969 (5th Cir. 1998); cf. In re
Grand Jury Proceedings, Storer Communications, 810 F.2d 580, 587-
588 (6th Cir. 1987) (state statute that conferred reporter's
privilege on newspaper reporters, and not on broadcast media
reporters, did not interfere with any "fundamental right" and thus
triggered only rational basis equal protection scrutiny) (citing
Branzburg).

      6
        Applicant also garners no assistance from prior decisions
of the Second Circuit itself (Appl. 9): the panel explained why
none of its precedent involved circumstances comparable to this
case (459 F.3d at 173); the full court of appeals denied rehearing
en banc, thus indicating no dissonance in circuit precedent; and,
in any event, a claim of intra-circuit conflict would not warrant
this Court's review, see Wisniewski v. United States, 353 U.S.
901, 902 (1957) (per curiam). Applicant's citation (Appl. 9-10) of
civil cases likewise does not advance its claim of a conflict; this
case involves grand jury subpoenas and is squarely controlled by
Branzburg.

                                   18

     In Special Proceedings, the First Circuit held that Branzburg

precludes recognition of a First Amendment reporter's privilege in

the context of a special prosecutor's investigation, a context the

court found analogous to a grand jury investigation.  373 F.3d at

44-45 ("In Branzburg, the Supreme Court flatly rejected any notion

of a general-purpose reporter's privilege for confidential sources,

whether by virtue of the First Amendment or of a newly hewn common

law privilege. * * * Branzburg governs in this case even though we

are dealing with a special prosecutor rather than a grand jury.").

The First Circuit's earlier decision in LaRouche considered, not a

grand jury subpoena, but a defendant's effort to subpoena for trial

"outtakes" of an television network's interview with a prospective

government witness. 841 F.2d at 1177, 1182; cf. Special

Proceedings, 373 F.3d at 45 (noting that LaRouche involved a

"situation[] distinct from Branzburg").

     In Williams, the Third Circuit affirmed a district court

decision by an equally divided en banc court, 963 F.2d 567, thus

establishing no precedent, see Rutledge v. United States, 517 U.S.

292, 204 (1996).  In Cuthbertson, similar to LaRouche, the Third

Circuit considered privilege claims only as to a defense subpoena

for statements of government trial witnesses and recognized a

qualified privilege in that context (630 F.2d at 146-147); no grand

jury subpoena was at issue.

     Finally, in Caporale, the Eleventh Circuit applied a

                                   19

reporter's privilege in a post-trial evidentiary hearing concerning

allegations of jury tampering. 806 F.2d at 1504. Again, like the

other decisions on which applicant relies, Caporale did not involve

a grand jury subpoena.

     In addition, none of the cases cited by applicant establishes

an absolute privilege; at most, they point towards a qualified

privilege. E.g., Caporale, 806 F.2d at 1504; Cuthbertson, 630 F.3d

at 146-147.  In light of the court of appeals' unequivocal ruling

in this case that any qualified common-law privilege (regardless of

its formulation) is overcome by the strength of the government's

interest and the necessity of acquiring information from applicant,

any qualified First Amendment privilege would also have to yield.

For that reason as well, the decision below would not create any

conflict worthy of this Court's review.

     In sum, the courts are not in disarray on the question

presented by this case: whether reporters may assert a

constitutional privilege against revelation of their confidential

sources in response to a grand jury investigation conducted in good

faith.   Consistent with this Court's holding in Branzburg, the

federal appellate courts have uniformly and correctly held that

they may not. ^7


     7
         Applicant's reliance (Appl. 10 n.5) on state court
decisions is also misplaced. Only one of the state cases applicant
cites applied a First Amendment reporter's privilege in a grand
jury investigation after Branzburg. See In re Letellier, 578 A.2d
722 (Me. 1990). That case misconstrued Branzburg and relied on

                                         20

      2.    Applicant also argues (Appl. 11) that conflicts over the

existence and scope of a common law reporter's privilege under

Federal Rule of Evidence 501 warrant this Court's review. Contrary

to applicant's claim, there is no reasonable probability that this

Court will grant certiorari to review that issue.  Nor is it likely

that the Court would reverse the court of appeals' holding that,

even if a reporter's privilege existed, it would be overcome on the

unusual facts of this case.

      a. The ultimate basis for the court of appeals' decision is

that, even if the law recognized a qualified reporter's privilege

in the context of a good faith grand jury investigation, the

privilege would be overcome on the unique facts of this case.  The

court accordingly found it "unnecessary * * * to rule on whether [a

qualified reporter's] privilege exists under Rule 501."  459 F.3d

at 169.  In so holding, the court considered a variety of

formulations of the qualified privilege and held that "whatever

standard is used, the privilege has been overcome as a matter of

law on the facts before us." ^8  Id. at 170. One of the formulations


First Circuit decisions applying a reporter's privilege in civil
proceedings. Id. at 724-726. In any event, Letellier ultimately
required the reporter to disclose the subpoenaed material to the
grand jury, so the recognition of the privilege was not essential
to the judgment. Id. at 727-730. And, as noted in the text, any
qualified privilege would similarly be overcome on the facts here.

      8
       The panel majority also noted that the facts would overcome
even the formulation of the privilege favored in Judge Sack's
dissenting opinion, stating: "We harbor no doubt whatsoever that,
on the present record, the test adopted by our dissenting colleague

                                          21

the court considered was the formulation specifically advocated by

applicant. Compare id. at 169-170 with App. C.A. Br. 61; see page

8, note 3, supra; Appl. 2.

     The only legal holding of the court was that if any privilege

exists in this context, it would be qualified, rather than

absolute. 459 F.3d at 169-170.  Applicant does not seriously

contest that holding.  As a result, this case presents no legal

issue concerning the existence or scope of a qualified common law

reporter's privilege to protect confidential sources in a criminal

case: the panel assumed the standard applicant advocated ­ and

ruled against it on the facts.  After a detailed discussion of the

facts (459 F.3d at 169-171), the court of appeals correctly

concluded:

     There is therefore a clear showing of a compelling
     governmental interest in the investigation, a clear
     showing of relevant and unique information in the
     reporters' knowledge, and a clear showing of need. No
     grand jury can make an informed decision to pursue the
     investigation further, much less to indict or not to
     indict, without the reporters' evidence. It is therefore
     not privileged.

Id. at 171.  There is no reasonable probability that this Court

would grant certiorari to review the court of appeals' conclusion

that, on the particular facts and record in this case, the

qualified privilege that applicant advocates was overcome.

     b.  Applicant asserts (Appl. 5, 12, 13), that the court's


for overcoming a qualified privilege has been satisfied." 459 F.3d
at 171 n.5.

                                            22

holding that the privilege was overcome lacked evidentiary support,

such that "the Second Circuit effectively held that reporters'

First Amendment and federal common law-based privileges will always

be overcome provided that counsel for the government simply

asserts, without submitting evidence of any kind, that he has

satisfied the applicable test."  Appl. 12. The court, however,

explicitly found the government's showing sufficient in this case

because "unique knowledge of the reporters" lay "at the heart of

the investigation" in light of their role in "informing the

targets" of upcoming assets freezes.  459 F.3d at 171.  The court

could not have been clearer that its holding was "limited to the

facts" before it (which are far from a typical fact pattern) and

"in no way suggest[ed] that [the showing made here] would be

adequate in a case involving less compelling facts." Ibid.

Accordingly, the court of appeals itself placed careful limits on

its holding and did not announce the far-reaching rule that

applicant ascribes to it.

       In addition, the record amply supports the conclusion that the

government exhausted all reasonable means of investigation before

seeking to subpoena the telephone records at issue.  The record

establishes that government agents searched HLF's and GRF's offices

on December 4 and 14, 2001.  The articles that contemporaneously

appeared in the New York Times made it evident that government

plans for imminent action had been leaked. After the searches, the

                                               23

United States Attorney's office and the FBI "commenced an

investigation to determine whether government officials were

responsible for disclosing to the Times that a search of GRF's

office was imminent." 382 F.Supp.2d at 467.  More than eight

months elapsed from the December 2001 searches before the United

States Attorney wrote to applicant to request voluntary cooperation

from the reporter involved in the GRF disclosure and production of

his telephone records for a defined period related to that

disclosure. Ibid. (discussing letter from Patrick J. Fitzgerald

dated August 7, 2004)  Applicant refused cooperation, stating that

its reporter's newsgathering activities and discussions with

confidential sources were privileged. Ibid.

      Nearly two years then passed before the United States Attorney

renewed contacts with applicant, informing it that the government's

inquiry now encompassed the HLF disclosure.  The United States

Attorney requested voluntary cooperation from the reporters

involved in both disclosures.  At that time, Fitzgerald notified

applicant that, pursuant to the Department of Justice Guidelines

for Issuance of Subpoenas to Members of the News Media, 28 C.F.R.

50.10, he had been "duly authorized to obtain and review

information from other sources, particularly those entities

providing telephone service to The New York Times, [and the

reporters involved]." 382 F.Supp.2d at 467.  Subsequently,

applicant requested a meeting with senior officials of the

                                       24

Department of Justice to discuss Fitzgerald's efforts to obtain

telephone records in this case.  In declining to meet, Deputy

Attorney General James Comey specifically assured applicant that

"[h]aving diligently pursued all reasonable alternatives out of

regard for First Amendment concerns, and having adhered

scrupulously to [Department of Justice] policy, including a

thorough review of Mr. Fitzgerald's request within [the Department

of Justice], we are now obliged to proceed." Id. at 469.

      A critical component of the Department of Justice Guidelines

is that

      All reasonable attempts should be made to obtain information
      from alternative sources before considering issuing a subpoena
      to a member of the news media, and similarly all reasonable
      alternative investigative steps should be taken before
      considering issuing a subpoena for telephone toll records of
      any member of the news media.


28 C.F.R. 50.10(b).  In order to issue such a subpoena, the

Attorney General personally must authorize that action. 28 C.F.R.

50.10(e) ("No subpoena may be issued to any member of the news

media or for the telephone toll records of any member of the new

media without the express authorization of the Attorney General.").

Before seeking the Attorney General's involvement and

authorization, "the government should have pursued all reasonable

investigation steps as required by paragraph (b) of this section."

28 C.F.R. 50.10(g)(1).  The Attorney General's authorization

reflects a determination that such pursuit had occurred.  And in

                                  25

the district court the government submitted an affidavit attesting

that it has "reasonably exhausted alternative investigative means."

459 F.3d at 171; 382 F.Supp.2d at 511.

     In light of the overall context of this case, the record

supports the inference that the government pursued all reasonable

alternative investigative steps to obtain the information it sought

before seeking the telephone records at issue. ^9  The timing of the

government's initial contact with applicant ­ eight months after

the disclosures in question ­ supports the inference that the

government had diligently, but unsuccessfully, pursued other means

of identifying the government official or officials who provided

information to applicant's reporters.   Nearly another two years

ensued before the government renewed its requests to applicant ­

during which time the United States Attorney obtained authorization

from the Attorney General to issue subpoenas.   Before seeking such

authorization, the United States Attorney was required by

regulation to exhaust alternative investigative means, and a court

can presume that the United States Attorney carried out that

requirement in good faith.  See United States v. Armstrong, 517



     9
       The Attorney General's Guidelines cover review of telephone
records even though no appellate decision before this case had
permitted a claim of reporter's privilege in that context, and, as
discussed below, see page 32, infra, no such claim is warranted.
The decision to seek telephone records in this case rather than to
compel testimony or documents from the reporters themselves itself
represented a measured approach that took into account the
reporters' interests.

                                         26

U.S. 456, 464 (1996) ("in the absence of clear evidence to the

contrary, courts presume that [prosecutors] have properly

discharged their official duties") (quoting United States v.

Chemical Foundation, Inc., 272 U.S. 1, 14-15 (1926)). The Deputy

Attorney General reiterated that the Department had pursued "all

reasonable alternatives out of regard for First Amendment concerns"

before approving the review of the reporters' telephone records.

382 F.Supp.2d at 469.  Against that background, it would be

unreasonable to reject the government's declaration that all

reasonable steps had been exhausted based on speculation that,

despite determinations at the highest level of the Justice

Department that other means had been exhausted, the government had

overlooked or failed to employ obvious alternative means of

identifying the sources of the leaks.

     c. Contrary to applicant's claim (Appl. 11), the court of

appeals' decision does not conflict with Jaffee v. Redmond, 518

U.S. 1 (1996), in which this Court recognized a psychotherapist-

patient privilege under Rule 501.  To the extent that applicant

suggests that because Jaffee rejected case-by-case balancing in the

psychotherapist-patient context, it forbids balancing of interests

concerning any claim of privilege, applicant is clearly mistaken.

See, e.g., Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53, 60-62 (1957)

(qualified informant's privilege requires "balancing the public

interest in protecting the flow of information against the

                                         27

individual's right to prepare his defense").   In any event,

applicant effectively abandoned any claim of an absolute privilege

in the court of appeals, see page 7, note 2, supra, and does not

explicitly advocate such a privilege here.

     3. The unlikelihood that this Court would grant review in his

case is underscored by the Court's recent denial of certiorari in

a case raising highly similar issues.  "The action of the Court on

an earlier petition for certiorari involving the same or similar

questions * * * is of course relevant" to whether a stay should

issue.    Robert L. Stern, et al., Supreme Court Practice 794 n.71

(8th Ed. 2002) (collecting citations); see, e.g., Packwood v.

Senate Select Committee, 510 U.S. 1319, 1321 (1994) (Rehnquist,

C.J.) ("Our recent denial [of certiorari] demonstrates quite

clearly the unlikelihood that four Justices would vote to grant

review on this issue."); South Park School District v. United

States, 453 U.S. 1301, 1303-1304 (1981) (Powell, J.) (denying stay

because there was no reasonable probability that review would be

granted as Court had denied review in an "almost identical" case

three years earlier).

     In June 2004, this Court denied a petition for a writ of

certiorari in a case in an analogous posture and raising nearly

identical arguments in favor and against the grant of review.  In

                                28

re: Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 438 F.3d 1141 (D.C. Cir.), ^10

cert. denied, 125 S. Ct 2977 (2005).  In that case, the court of

appeals' rationale bore a striking resemblance to the rationale of

the court of appeals in this case.  Judge Sentelle's opinion for

the court stated:

     The District Court held that neither the First Amendment
     nor the federal common law provides protection for
     journalists' confidential sources in the context of a
     grand jury investigation.  For the reasons set forth
     below, we agree with the District Court that there is no
     First Amendment privilege protecting the evidence sought.
     We further conclude that if any such common law privilege
     exists, it is not absolute, and in this case has been
     overcome by the filings of the Special Counsel with the
     District Court.

438 F.3d at 1142 (Sentelle, J., Opinion for the Court). Judge

Henderson's concurring opinion further stated:

     Because my colleagues and I agree that any federal
     common-law reporter's privilege that may exist is not
     absolute and that the Special Counsel's evidence defeats
     whatever privilege we may fashion, we need not, and
     therefore should not, decide anything more today than
     that the Special Counsel's evidentiary proffer overcomes
     any hurdle, however high, a federal common-law reporter's
     privilege may erect.

Id. at 1159 (Henderson, J., concurring).   In light of this Court's

denial of certiorari in Miller ­ in the face of legal arguments

nearly identical to those presented here ­ there is no reasonable

probability that the Court will grant review in this case.

     A further factor undercutting the likelihood of this Court's


     10
       The case was decided on February 15, 2005.   The opinion was
reissued on February 3, 2006. 438 F.3d at 1141.

                                            29

review is that Congress has periodically considered legislative

proposals that would create a federal reporter's privilege.  See

382 F. Supp.2d 507 n.45.  In fact, bills are currently under

consideration by the Congress. ^11  This active consideration of

reporter's privilege legislation in both Houses of Congress

provides strong additional reason for this Court's restraint. This

Court has stated that "we are disinclined to exercise this

authority [to recognize new privileges under Rule 501] expansively.

We are especially reluctant to recognize a privilege in an area

where it appears that Congress has considered the relevant

competing concerns but has not provided the privilege itself. * *

*   The balancing of conflicting interests of this type is

particularly a legislative function." University of Pennsylvania

v. EEOC, 493 U.S. 182, 190 (1990).  See also Branzburg, 408 U.S. at

706 ("At the federal level, Congress has freedom to determine


        11
        On July 18, 2005, Representative Mike Pence, with co-
sponsors, introduced in the House the Free Flow of Information Act
of 2006, H.R. 3323, 109th Cong., to establish a qualified
reporter's privilege. On May 18, 2006, Senator Richard Lugar,
with co-sponsors, introduced in the Senate the Free Flow of
Information Act of 2006, S. 2831, 109th Cong., to establish a
qualified reporter's privilege. On September 20, 2006, the Senate
Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on the subject of
"Reporters' Privilege Legislation: Preserving Effective Federal
Law Enforcement," at which the Deputy Attorney General testified.
For the House and Senate bills and a notice of the Judiciary
Committee hearing including the prepared testimony of several
witnesess,  see:  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/query/z?c109:H.R.3323  (House Bill);
http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/bills.text/109/s/s2831.pdf (Senate
Bill); http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=2070 (Judiciary
Committee Hearing).

                                       30

whether a statutory newsman's privilege is necessary and desirable

and to fashion standards and rules as narrow or broad as deemed

necessary to deal with the evil discerned and, equally important,

to refashion those rules as experience from time to time may

dictate.").  In view of Congress's current consideration of

qualified-privilege legislation to protect a reporter's

confidential sources, intervention by this Court to create such a

privilege is especially unlikely and unwarranted.

     4.  Even if the issue of a reporter's privilege to protect

confidential sources might other otherwise warrant this Court's

attention, this case would be a singularly unsuitable vehicle for

review because of its atypical facts.

     First, as the court of appeals emphasized, this case does not

involve reporters who merely acquired and then published

information from confidential sources.  Rather, the reporters

disclosed information to the targets of imminent law enforcement

action before that action took place.  As the court explained,

applicants' "reporters were not passive collectors of information

whose evidence is a convenient means for the government to identify

an official prone to indiscretion."  459 F.3d at 170.  Rather, "the

communications to the two foundations were made by the reporters

themselves and may have altered the results of the asset freezes

and searches." Ibid.  Thus, the reporters' actions here lie at the

core of the grand jury investigation but at the periphery of normal

                                           31

news gathering.

     In light of those facts, the court of appeals found it beyond

question that the reporters' information "is critical to the

present investigation"; "[t]here is simply no substitute for the

evidence they have." 459 F.3d at 170.  The court also found no

need to analyze prior circuit precedent concerning First Amendment

claims of the press in other judicial contexts because "[n]one

involved a grand jury subpoena or the compelling law enforcement

interests that exist when there is probable cause to believe that

the press served as a conduit to alert the targets of an asset

freeze and/or searches." Id. at 173. The court thus "emphasize[d]

that [its] holding is limited to the facts before us."  Id. at 171.

The narrowly limited nature of the court's holding undermines any

claim that this case should be the flagship for defining a

qualified privilege for reporters in a criminal investigation. The

fact that the reporters here relayed disclosures from a government

source to targets of an imminent law enforcement action

substantially weakens any claim of freedom of the press.  It also

sets this case apart from others that have considered reporter's

privilege issues.  Accordingly, this unusual case constitutes a

poor vehicle for certiorari. ^12


     12
         As noted, the government has treated the reporters whose
calls are at issue as witnesses, rather than subjects or targets of
the grand jury investigation. Nevertheless, applicant's reporters
have admitted contacting representatives of HLF and GRF in advance
of the government's planned actions to seek comment.            The

                                  32

     Second, this case does not involve a direct effort to obtain

information from a reporter, either through testimony or subpoenaed

records in the hands of the reporter herself.  Rather, this case

involves telephone records held by third parties.   Application of

a reporter's privilege to such records would be wholly unwarranted,

even if the reporter herself could assert a qualified privilege.

No one has a justified expectation of privacy in the telephone

numbers of other persons whom the individual calls or who call the

individual: those numbers are conveyed to the telephone company

and form part of its business records.  See Smith v. Maryland, 442

U.S. 735, 742-746 (1979). Whatever restrictions might be placed on

the grand jury's acquisition of evidence from reporters themselves,

no such restrictions should be placed on acquisition of telephone

records from third parties.

     Reporters might find it essential to use the telephone to talk

with sources.  But they might equally claim that it is essential to

take airplanes, rent hotel rooms, and use taxis to visit and meet

with confidential sources.  Any suggestion that a press privilege

would protect against the grand jury's ability to subpoena that

evidence from third parties would be work a major inroad into the




government's compelling interest in tracing the origins and nature
of such disclosures distinguishes this investigation from the mine
run of cases raising claims of a reporter's privilege.

                                33

grand jury's investigatory functions. ^13   See Reporter's Committee

v. AT&T, 593 F.2d 1030, 1048-1049, 1053 (D.C. Cir. 1978) (rejecting

claimed right of reporters to advance notice of subpoenas issued to

telephone service provider). Accordingly, there is substantial

reason to question whether a reporter's privilege claim can even be

asserted in the present case.   See Gov't C.A. Br. 46-50 (arguing

against recognition of such a claim).   The existence of that

threshold issue amplifies the reasons for finding no reasonable

probability that certiorari would be granted in this case. ^14


     13
        The court of appeals relied on circuit precedent in holding
that a reporter can assert a privilege in material in the hands of
a third party "so long as the third party plays an `integral role'
in reporters' work." 459 F.3d at 168. The court was willing to
say only that "arguably" that analysis would not cover "lodging,
air travel, and taxicabs." Id. at 168 n.3. But the logic of the
court's analysis carries a broad potential to reach a variety of
records held by third parties, unjustifiably giving the press a
privilege vastly more protective than any other privilege.

     14
          Two additional threshold issues further decrease the
suitability of this case for certiorari review. First, the court
of appeals held that the Declaratory Judgment Act permitted the
district court to entertain this action, notwithstanding the
existence of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(c), which
specifically provides a means to move to quash a grand jury
subpoena.   Second, the court of appeals held that the district
court did not abuse its discretion in entertaining this declaratory
judgment action, notwithstanding the existence of a plainly more
appropriate forum: the district court in the Northern District of
Illinois supervising the underlying grand jury investigation. 459
F.3d at 167.     Resolution of either of those threshold issues
against applicant would obviate the need to consider the questions
applicant seeks to raise.

                                          34

       B.   The Balance of Equities And The Public Interest Weigh
            Heavily Against Granting a Stay of the Mandate

       In addition to applicant's inability to demonstrate that this

Court would grant review and reverse the court of appeals'

decision, there is additional and highly significant reason for

denying a stay: the balance of equities strongly favors such a

denial. The government is pursuing a criminal investigation of the

utmost importance, and further delay threatens to thwart the grand

jury's ability to complete its vital work. The harm to applicant's

interests, in contrast, is far more attenuated than the application

acknowledges.

       1. As the government informed the court of appeals, the five-

year statute of limitation on substantive criminal offenses

relating to the disclosure of confidential information concerning

asset freezes and searches of HLF and GRF will expire on December

3 and 14, 2006, respectively.  While other potential criminal

charges may remain, it would be extraordinarily injurious to the

public interest to permit the statute of limitations to expire

without permitting the grand jury to do its work ­ to consider any

and all crimes that may have been committed in this sensitive and

significant case.  See United States v. R. Enterprises, Inc., 498

U.S. 292, 297 (1991) ("The function of the grand jury is to inquire

into all information that might possibly bear on its investigation

until it has identified an offense or has satisfied itself that

none has occurred."); Branzburg, 408 U.S. at 701 ("A grand jury

                                   35

investigation is not fully carried out until every available clue

has been run down and all witnesses examined in every proper way to

find if a crime has been committed.") (internal quotation marks

omitted).

     In this case, the court of appeals made clear that "[t]he

grand jury * * * has serious law enforcement concerns as the goal

of its investigation." 459 F.3d at 170.  It also emphasized the

centrality of the reporters' information to that inquiry: "the

unique knowledge of the reporters is at the heart of the

investigation, and there are no alternative sources of information

that can reliably establish the circumstances of the disclosures of

grand jury information and the revealing of that information to

targets of the investigation." Id. at 171.  Reviewing applicant's

telephone records is thus essential to the grand jury's work.

Under those circumstances, the public interest in completing the

investigation, and avoiding irreparable injury through the running

of the limitations period, is paramount to respondent's claims of

irreparable harm.  Staying the mandate pending the filing and

disposition of a certiorari petition, even on an expedited basis,

would surely preclude the grand jury from completing its work

before the imminent running of the limitations period.

     Because of the harm faced by the government if this Court

granted a stay, applicant's reliance (Appl. 7) on In re Roche, 448

U.S. 1312 (1980 (Brennan, J.) is misplaced.  In that case, a

                                         36

reporter was held in civil contempt for failing to reveal, at a

deposition in anticipation of state judicial disciplinary

proceedings, the individuals on a list of hearing witnesses who had

served as confidential sources for the reporter's investigation of

alleged judicial misconduct. Id. at 1312-1313.  In granting a

stay, Justice Brennan noted that, absent a stay, the reporter faced

either revelation of his sources or going to jail, while, with a

stay, "the judge subject to the disciplinary inquiry can obtain the

information he seeks by deposing the hearing witnesses." Id. at

1316.  Justice Brennan also noted that the disciplinary committee

could alleviate any burden on the State by "continu[ing]

disciplinary proceedings until resolution of applicant's petition

for a writ of certiorari." Id. at 1316-1317. Here, neither of

those things is true: the government does not have an alternative

source for the information at issue, and delay to consider a

certiorari petition would inevitably mean that certain potential

charges would be time-barred.

     2. While applicant claims irreparable injury if a stay is not

granted, any claim of harm to applicant's interests must be

analyzed carefully, in light of the specific circumstances of this

case. Such an analysis reveals only minimal inroads on applicants'

interests, at best.

     The government sought third-party telephone records pertaining

to applicant only after exhausting all reasonable alternative means

                                        37

and engaging in a thorough deliberative process within the

Department of Justice.  See 459 F.3d at 164; 28 C.F.R. 50.10

(Department of Justice Guidelines for Issuance of Subpoenas to

Members of the News Media); see also 382 F.Supp.2d at 481-484

(describing the Department of Justice's Guidelines in the course of

holding that they do not confer privately enforceable rights).

Pursuant to this policy, the Department of Justice issues media-

related subpoenas only when necessary to obtain important, material

evidence that cannot be reasonably obtained through other means.

The painstaking process and internal discretion employed by the

Department of Justice in this area reduces any claims of broad harm

to the press from denying a stay in this case. ^15

      Further undermining any suggestion of sweeping harm to the

press is the context of the reporters' actions in this case. The

government's criminal inquiry in this instance responded to highly

unusual circumstances.  In the district court, applicants'

reporters asserted that, in the wake of the September 11, 2001,

attacks, they wrote 78 articles for the New York Times concerning

terrorism and related threats, "dozens of which articles * * *

contain information attributed to confidential sources." 382

F.Supp.2d at 499. Yet the vast majority of those articles


      15
        See Branzburg, 408 U.S. at 706-707 (noting the Department's
Guidelines and observing that "[t]hese rules are a major step in
the direction the reporters herein desire to move" and "may prove
wholly sufficient to resolve the bulk of disagreements and
controversies between press and federal officials").

                                   38

triggered no governmental inquiry to applicant whatsoever.  What

provoked the current inquiry were their phone calls to HLF and GRF

seeking comment on imminent, non-public law enforcement action. As

the court of appeals concluded:  "We see no danger to a free press"

in denying application of the privilege to applicant here;

"[l]earning of imminent law enforcement asset freezes/searches and

informing targets of them is not an activity essential, or common,

to journalism."   459 F.3d at 171; id. at 171 n.5 ("we see no public

interest in having information on imminent asset freezes/searches

flow to the public, much less to the targets").

      The New York Times asserts that, "[w]ithout a stay, the

government would immediately be entitled to obtain and review the

telephone records it seeks which will reveal the identity of

numerous confidential sources of The Times and its reporters."

Appl. 7.   But the court of appeals provided a means to alleviate

such claims of "overbreadth" on remand to the district court.  The

court remanded the case "without prejudice to the district court's

redaction of materials irrelevant to the investigation upon an

offer of appropriate cooperation." Id. at 174.  Nothing inherent

in this investigation makes it necessary for the government to

review telephone records that "would reveal the identities of

dozens of confidential sources that have no relationship whatsoever

to the government's investigation" (Appl. 4) ­ unless applicant

makes such a review necessary by failing to cooperate. Appropriate

                                         39

cooperation in this context, of course, must give the government a

full and expeditious opportunity to identify phone numbers that are

connected with the leaks and disclosures to the targets in this

case.  It is essential that any such narrowing process occur

promptly, in light of the severe deadlines that the grand jury

faces.   But consistent with those requirements, applicant has the

power to limit the extent of disclosure of confidential-source

telephone numbers to those that are relevant to the present

investigation.

      As for the broader claims of irreparable harm to the news

gathering process, applicant offers the same arguments and claims

that were advanced in Branzburg.  408 U.S. at 693-694.  Events

since 1972 confirm the conclusions the Court drew in that case:

the occasional disclosure of confidential sources inlegal

proceedings does not have the dire consequences hypothesized by

reporters.  Investigative journalism continues to flourish. See,

e.g., 382 F.Supp.2d at 498 (describing, inter alia, exposure of

Watergate through information from "Deep Throat"; revelation

improper activities during the Carter presidency; reporting on the

Iran/Contra affair; and exposure of information concerning Abu

Ghraib ­ all of which depended in part on confidential sources).

Experience shows that requiring the media to identify sources when

necessary to conduct thorough and complete grand jury

investigations has not restricted the free flow of information to

                                 40

the press ­ and certainly not to a degree that outweighs the public

interest in the truth-seeking function of grand jury

investigations.

     In sum, balancing the significant harm to the public interest

in effective grand jury investigations and fair enforcement of the

criminal law against the attenuated harm to the news gathering

process, the scales tip decidedly against granting a stay in this

case.

                             CONCLUSION

     The application for a stay of the mandate pending the filing

of a petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.

     Respectfully submitted.

                                PAUL D. CLEMENT
                                  Solicitor General

                                ALICE S. FISHER
                                  Assistant Attorney General

                                MICHAEL R. DREEBEN
                                  Deputy Solicitor General

                                DEBRA RIGGS BONAMICI
                                  Assistant United States Attorney


NOVEMBER 2006

posted by cboldt  # 11/25/2006 04:25:00 PM