Time Reporter Testifies in CIA Leak Investigation (Update1)
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- A Time magazine reporter gave private testimony to a special counsel investigating whether administration officials illegally disclosed the name of an undercover Central Intelligence Agency agent.
A judge vacated contempt orders he had issued against Time and the reporter, Matthew Cooper, who earlier had refused to testify, Time said in a statement. Cooper provided the deposition in Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation to find out who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, Time said.
The deposition was given after one of Cooper's sources, I. Lewis Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, agreed to allow Cooper to identify him, Time said. Libby provided a personal waiver of confidentiality, the statement said.
Cooper was held in contempt by U.S. District Court Chief Thomas Hogan in July after refusing to say who gave him Plame's identity. Cooper disclosed the name of the agent in Time's online edition in last year.
Fitzgerald is seeking to find out whether officials deliberately disclosed Plame's name in violation of U.S. laws.
Time magazine is controlled by Time Warner Inc., the largest U.S. media company.
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