I'd plead the 5th.
____________________________________________________________________
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
Locke
The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate
Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087
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On Fri, 9 Mar 2001, London, Robb wrote:
> Attorney General Ashcroft personally approved your subpoena, and that of another
>reporter who published admissions by James Dalton Bell.
>
> The Government is not seeking any source material, notes, or other unpublished
>material from you by virtue of this subpoena. The limited purpose of the subpoena is
>to have you review two of your published articles, acknowledge your authorship,
>review several of the statements which you attributed to Bell in your articles, and
>have you verify that he in fact told you those things. That's all. We're only
>interested in having you testify about statements of his that you published. If your
>subpoena could have been avoided, it would have been. Unfortunately, the Federal
>Rules of Evidence do not permit a news article to be admitted into evidence for these
>purposes unless the person who wrote it can attest to its authorship and the accuracy
>of its content. This must be done in open court, at trial, and cannot be
>accomplished by affidavit, unless the defendant is willing to stipulate that your
>appearance can be avoided and that your articles can be admitted into evidence wit!
ho!
ut your appearance as a foundation witness. Mr. Bell is not interested in any such
stipulations. I regret any inconvenience that a trip to Tacoma may cause.
>
> I am extremely sensitive to the intrusiveness of any subpoena and the potential
>negative impact that press subpoenas can have on the news gathering function. The
>subpoena that has been served on you, is, in my experience, as minimally intrusive as
>any such subpoena can be.
>
> Robb London
> Assistant United States Attorney
> Western District of Washington
>
