N.Y. Times asks for high court’s help

The New York Times asked the Supreme Court on Friday to block the government from reviewing the phone records of two reporters in a leak investigation about a terrorism-funding probe.

The case involved stories written in 2001 by Times reporters Judith Miller and Philip Shenon that revealed the government’s plans to freeze the assets of two Islamic charities, the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals said federal prosecutors could see the phone records of Shenon and Miller. Miller retired from the Times a year ago.

The Times wants Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who oversees emergency appeals for the 2nd Circuit, to temporarily block the government from going through the records so that the newspaper can prepare a petition arguing why the justices should step into the case. Ginsburg asked the Justice Department for a response.

A federal judge had ruled that the records were off-limits unless prosecutors could show they had exhausted other means of finding out who spoke to the paper. The appeals court said a grand jury investigation of the disclosures wasn’t likely to go anywhere without help from the reporters or their records.

In papers filed with the Supreme Court, the Times said that when confidential sources confirmed that the assets of two charities would be frozen, Shenon and Miller called the two organizations for comment.

The government says those phone calls tipped off the charities to planned government raids. A federal judge who ruled in the paper’s favor said there was no evidence in the record suggesting the reporters knew of plans to raid either charity.