Word: agnew
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Anybody subpoenaed who refuses to answer questions could be subject to jail sentences for contempt of court. Newsmen are particularly vulnerable, of course, because of their resistance to naming confidential sources. Doing a little leaking of his own, a source close to Agnew's defense indicated to TIME that the lawyers may not insist that reporters name each individual who provided information: the newsmen may be asked merely to confirm under oath that their stories accurately attributed leaks to "Justice Department sources." But what if they balk at this compromise? Will Agnew's attorneys then...
...days after Judge Hoffman handed down his order, Agnew's lawyers served subpoenas on TIME and Newsweek, plus reporters for both magazines, the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the Washington Post, the Washington Star-News, CBS and NBC. Subpoenas also were headed for Attorney General Elliot Richardson, Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus and Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen...
Judge Hoffman has ordered that the testimony of those subpoenaed "be sealed and not made part of any public file." He has also instructed Agnew's lawyers not to discuss the testimony publicly. Whether or not this attempt to impose some rare secrecy on the Agnew case succeeds, it was clear that Hoffman's three-paragraph directive posed a perplexing array of public questions relating not only to the case but to the order itself. It also raised again the issue of how to reconcile the rights of a defendant with the rights of a free press...
...prosecutors have conducted, as Agnew says, a "deliberate campaign" of leaks, it constitutes a serious breach of their duty as officers of the court. In that context, the judge's grant of broad subpoena powers can be seen as giving Agnew the fairest chance of gathering evidence to support his contention...
What, then, are the objections to Agnew's having such powers...