The Nation : Judge Bars Access to Fraud Probe Papers

A federal judge in Baltimore ordered government search warrants remain sealed in the case of Victor D. Cohen and two others under investigation in the Pentagon procurement scandal. The Washington Post sought to unseal the warrants and inventories, of the homes of the three, arguing it had First Amendment and common law rights of access to the documents. In addition to Cohen, of Potomac, Md., a former Northrop Corp. consultant and senior Air Force official, the other men are Richard W. Seelmeyer, of Berwyn Heights, Md., publisher of a military newsletter and a former aide to Rep. Joseph P. Addabbo of New York; and William Sanda, of Rockville, Md., a military consultant. U.S. District Chief Judge Alexander Harvey reversed a U.S. magistrate who had decided in July to unseal some of the documents, but not others. Harvey said the Post had no common law rights of access to court documents because cases involving the men had yet to be filed in the courts.