Senators Angered by Justice Official’s Silence
Senior Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sharply criticized a Justice Department official for refusing to say whether the Bush administration had ever considered prosecuting journalists for publishing leaked national security information.
The senators also bristled when Deputy U.S. Atty. Matthew Friedrich declined to answer questions about the rationale for the FBI’s attempts to review the papers of the late columnist Jack Anderson.
“You’re basically taking what would be called a testifying 5th Amendment. You should be ashamed of yourself, or your superiors should be ashamed of themselves,” Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) told Friedrich after he declined to answer questions from committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).
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