Sounds like an insider spilled the beans on Ohio rigged votes:

[Pallas180]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/09/national/09cleveland.html?ei=5065&en=fe99728fc8bf8730&ex=1121572800&adxnnl=1&partner=MYWAY&adxnnlx=1120968294-kGVYFuAnvfOKb1OggOVNtA

Newspaper Withholding Two Articles After Jailing

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
Published: July 9, 2005

The editor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer said last night that the newspaper, acting on the advice of its lawyers, was withholding publication of two major investigative articles because they were based on illegally leaked documents and could lead to penalties against the paper and the jailing of reporters.

The editor, Doug Clifton, said lawyers for The Plain Dealer had concluded that the newspaper, Ohio's largest daily, would probably be found culpable if the authorities were to investigate the leaks and that reporters might be forced to identify confidential sources to a grand jury or go to jail.

"Basically, we have come by material leaked to us that would be problematical for the person who leaked it," Mr. Clifton said in a telephone interview. "The material was under seal or something along those lines."

In an earlier interview with the trade journal Editor & Publisher, which published an article on its Web site late yesterday, Mr. Clifton said that lawyers for The Plain Dealer and its owner, Newhouse Newspapers, had strongly recommended against publication of the articles. "They've said, This is a super, super high-risk endeavor and you would, you know, you'd lose," Mr. Clifton told Editor & Publisher. "The reporters say, 'Well, we're willing to go to jail,' and I'm willing to go to jail if it gets laid on me, but the newspaper isn't willing to go to jail."

-more-

On Edit:

sounds like the cabal is busy stamping everything "classified" and threatening...funny they didn't classify Plame's CIA status

[KaryninMiami]

1. Interesting timing. Wonder what they could be hiding?

Andy Stephenson would have loved this!

[evlbstrd]

2. Plame's CIA status was, by default, classified.

That's what makes her "outing" a federal crime. The Plain Dealer reporters are willing to let the stories be published. It's the editor, and by extension, the owner, of the Plain Dealer that won't push the voting story.

[Pallas180]

3. do ya think they got a telephone call from...oooooh say -

Washington DC ?

Seems to me the leaker has to be out of the CIA or FBI...

[evlbstrd]

5. Absolutely.

And look for the CIA to help push more shit out to prosecutors and/or reporters. They were made the scapegoats for 9/11 and one of their own was outed. Many of her contacts were killed as a result, and her entire operation was destroyed. Remember, she was working on WMDs.

[Pallas180]

9. Funny, they never mention Rove caused the death of her contacts

don't you find that odd?

Tucker says, who cares about Plame..
repeated by Bay Buchanan..

talking points still being issued by.................ROVE

[evlbstrd]

13. I don't find it odd at all.

The MSM never really reported the damage done to WMD intelligence by the Plame revelation. Rove and the White House are more interested in mainaining power than actually making the U.S. and the world more safe.

If it wasn't in the mainstream press, it didn't happen and wasn't a problem.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Hey, did anybody even KNOW this story existed before the

Cleveland Plain Dealer started whinging about the confidentiality disclosure issue?

What were they doing holding onto this story? Sorry, but a real lawyer would have told them that the overriding factor when weighing conflicts in constitutional rights is if there is an overriding public interest. Didn't even sound like the lawyer covered that.

BTW, I know that corporations have been deemed individuals, but it's the first time I've heard a lawyer concerned that a corporate body could be put in jail. I'd like to see that perp walk.

[Im with Rosey]

31. Do we know the lawyer/firm?

That very thing struck me as extremely odd, corporate body doing jail time. It might be interesting to see the background of the lawyer(s) giving the advice.

[bvar22]

6. I wish those reporters would just "leak" their info...

...to the Internets, or Blog their story themselves. This sounds TOO hot to keep hidden.
FUCK the "owners"of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
This is the bush* "Ownership Society" at work!

[FreedomAngel82]

17. That's what's strange

Why are they making a big stink out of not being able to print the story? Why not work with a lawyer and do everything privately and then "bamb"? Are they trying to send clues to people or what?? Like sending a message like "I'm not going to off myself" if it happens??? That way they are taking safety percautions or something?

[sendero]

33. Exactly...

.... who the eff needs the "mainstream media" any more.

An anonymous poster coming in on an anonymous IP can post this anywhere and stand back and watch. Once the info is out, people can corrorborate it with ancillary facts, or not.

Fuck the media in this country, they should all be in jail for treason.

[craychek]

7. hmmmm...

welll it could be anything really, and if it's sealed then they can not publish it at all really, but if it was really big like massive election fraud I would say screw it and publish it =P

Even if they were gotten through illegal means, the truth is the truth, and evidence is evidence.

[high density]

8. Well if the stories are that important, they probably should be published

Though of course I'm saying that without the possibility of jail time hanging over my head.

[Pallas180]

11. Bogus - they didnt have to say they knew it was classified - its

an excuse and a hint.....but read the article again...it says it was on their website...

can anybody find that info?

[flowomo]

10. more likely it's "Coingate" related info....

maybe something that reaches into the governor's office... but I'm hoping it's election stuff.

[jaxx]

12. The bushco's win

This is sickening, afraid to publish what they have found. Looks like big brother has a tight rein on what the people will know from now on........no more Roves or DSM's. Just happy thoughts, and oh yeah, the war is progressing and all is well in Iraq.

[newswolf56]

14. The vital question in this story -- overlooked even by...

...The New York Times -- is whether Ohio is one of the 41 states that have shield laws protecting reporters from retaliatory prosecutions against leakers. If Ohio does have such a law, this means the documents are federal -- and since the only major Ohio story I know of that has genuine federal implications is the likelihood Bush won election by fraud, the implications are obvious.

[newswolf56]

15. Tried to answer my own question, but Google is useless...

...for this sort of quest (unless one has time to read every entry under "journalist shield law"). Probably the only reliable source for such information is Editor & Publisher, but access to its archives unfortunately requires a paid subscription, which I do not have.

[Boo Boo]

34. Hmmm, Google seemed to work alright for me

Looks like Ohio has a reporter's shield law:

FROM BARBARA WARTELLE WALL: LEGAL WATCH
OHIO COURT RULES SHIELD LAW PROTECTS IDENTITY OF SOURCE

Under Ohio's shield law, a newsperson cannot be compelled to identify a source even if the person seeking disclosure says he was a source, a federal court has ruled. (Ventura v. Cincinnati Enquirer, Aug. 7, 2001.)

http://www.gannett.com/go/newswatch/2001/august/nw0824-3.htm

[newswolf56]

41. Thank you. Apparently you had time to read every entry...

...under "journalist shield law." I went through everything on the first three "pages" and found neither a comprehensive listing of all states with such laws (which is what I was seeking) nor anything specifically about Ohio. Found lots of commercial trash though: sites willing to sell me such lists, scan my computer for adware, find my missing grandmother etc. Thanks again. I'd be interested to know specifically what you Googled.

[Boo Boo]

53. Nah, I just got lucky

My search terms were ohio shield law, which matched three terms in the <TITLE> tag of the document. That tag pretty much guaranteed that Google would give the document a high weighting and put it on the first page. It was the second entry. Good thing, too; I mean, I like my fellow DUers and all, but I'm not actually prepared to work hard, for anybody! :7

[bornskeptic]

36. Here is the text of Ohio's Shield law

§ 2739.12. Newspaper reporters not required to reveal source of information.

No person engaged in the work of, or connected with, or employed by any newspaper or any press association for the purpose of gathering, procuring, compiling, editing, disseminating, or publishing news shall be required to disclose the source of any information procured or obtained by such person in the course of his employment, in any legal proceeding, trial, or investigation before any court, grand jury, petit jury, or any officer thereof, before the presiding officer of any tribunal, or his agent, or before any commission, department, division, or bureau of this state, or before any county or municipal body, officer or committee thereof.

http://onlinedocs.andersonpublishing.com/oh/lpExt.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=PORC

[newswolf56]

42. Thank you. The fact the Cleveland paper is covered...

...by a state shield law means the editors' fear is clearly of the federal authorities only. Which, as I said above, means the leaker is federal -- and (unless there's some other Ohio story we don't know about) strongly links it to the allegations Bush stole Ohio. Wonder if the suppressed information is an especially damning White House memo? Or if it involves some secret police or spook agency working in White House harness. Surely BushCabal wouldn't be so arrogant as to have any such things in writing...

[Boo Boo]

54. It's an interesting deduction on your part

Pretty crafty, newswolf56!

I'm reminded of the story about shutting down access to a particular building, where votes were being tabulated, the excuse being that Homeland Security, or the FBI, or whatever, had issued a warning about terrorist threats. Both the DHS and the FBI denied they had ever issued any warning; maybe that's a lie.

I remember DHS sewing the idea that there was a threat during the lead-up to the election. There were people in various States moving polling places from schools, etc. I thought this was absurd, and it really looked like a setup to me; an excuse to move polling places, and that sort of thing. The hugest smoking gun possible would be proof that Feds, members of the Bush administration, shut that building down on election night. That would give them some serious explaning to do.

Hard to believe a newspaper would sit on a story like that, but if they promised somebody that they would not reveal his name then the Plame case would make them think twice. I don't think the courts would treat something like that the same way they are treating confidentiality in the Plame case though---there is a difference between a leak like that, and what Rove did.

Wouldn't it be cool if DHS got caught lying about shutting down that building?

[Egalitariat]

57. Or their attorneys told them the law is useless based on

recent federal court rulings that render the law toothless.

[newswolf56]

59. That's a misconception. The recent federal court ruling...

...was on whether there is a FEDERAL (constitutional) right to source shielding. According to the Supreme Court, there isn't. But under that ruling, state law (which is based on state constitutions) remains valid, just as pointed out by several legal analysts at the time. Hence the threatened prosecution from which the Ohio editors have recoiled in such craven terror can only be a federal prosecution.

[pgh_dem]

62. Or the PD is just lying about having these stories... n/t

[freeplessinseattle]

16. well, I'm sure someone will publish it, if they can convince

the OH paper to put them in touch with the source. The paper could just tell the source to contact so-and-so, and then it will be out there. Hell, if I ran a paper I'd risk it, and I'm sure some others feel the same, probably more likely smaller papers, like Seattle's The Stranger (which broke the Microsoft/gay rights story) or even just a little neighborhood paper, like the ones every Seattle neighborhood has, or a college paper (hint hint)once the info's out there it's out there, and other papers can pick up on it.

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Maybe they know

how the Bush crime family people are. They kill anybody in their way. The dead can't talk, right? Remember with Mr. Lemme? I think maybe they're trying to tell people something and then if something happens to them people will remember this story and know they didn't suicide themselves. That's the only thing I can think of. Or maybe they're wanting help with getting pressure on the paper to print this story and their boss won't let them.

[freeplessinseattle]

21. that is true, it isn't risking jail to print, it's a matter of life or

death. damn the BFEE all to hell! I am sick of their bullying! hmm, well, maybe some freeway bloggers can get ahold of the info:) I've been doing the handbill/grocery list thing, hmmm. We've got to find a way to get out the info without putting anyone at risk. Joe Wilson is one brave person, I admire him so much for standing up to bushco, Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose, I guess. and if anything happened to him it would look very suspicious now. wouldn't put it past them to arrange an "accident", mess with his car or something. pricks.

[Helga Scow Stern]

19. I was just looking at this....

I looked for Doug Clifton's name in connection with the flurry of reporting in Ohio right after thbe heist up until January 2005. It seemed he had been kind of decent in allowing honest reporting at first.

We should write to him.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. I agree

Maybe if enough people write him he will see there is public intrest. I wrote to them earlier so I definitley suggest it.

[NMDemDist2]

20. this is unfortunately more blowback from the Plame investigation

while I would love to see Rove in handcuffs, this is exactly the result journalists warned us about if Miller went to jail.

[kster]

23. Looks like they are giving the

bad guys the information that their is a leaker,to give the bad guys a chance to do something about it.

I think the leaker is a lot smarter than they are and NYTimes is about to get beat out of the scoop,if they don't run with it.

The leaker seems to knows what he is doing,and if the NYtimes doesn't print within a givin time,there will be 100 or a thousand ltte going out to major newspapers from the leaker.

my 2 cents..........

[Jane Austin]

27. I am missing something.

What does the NY Times have to do with this story?

[kster]

46. Oops, I

stand corrected,tring to read to many articles at once.

[Jane Austin]

51. Thanks

For clearing that up. :)

[WCGreen]

24. I am sure this has to do with the Coin and the BWC trust fund

The PD doesn't have the muscle in DC to be a part of the Plume outing....

No, I think this has to do with an insider in Gov Taft's office leaking stolen documents or doucments that have been sup by the Grand Jury to the reports in Columbus.......

I could be wrong but I think this is the story they are talking about.....

[Alizaryn]

25. Could they leak the information and the confidentiality

agreement to another paper and let them publish it?

[FreedomAngel82]

26. I don't know

Maybe they could do that. :shrug: But I would love to know what the story is about. If it is about the coins I've always felt it has to do with the election as well. EVERYTHING these people do is tied together and eventually leads to the same group of neocons.

[pgh_dem]

28. Just lying. Put up or shut up, PD.

Or maybe try doing some REAL journalism like the Toledo Blade. You know, where you get leads, and then you FOLLOW them and VERIFY the FACTS they lead to.

Bunch of bullshit. If they have anything, it's probably another 'top white house official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says * has a bold vision for the middle east, and looks great in a thong' kind of story.

[spooky3]

29. Do we know these are political stories? There are a lot of other

topics these stories could relate to.

[flpoljunkie]

30. Not necessarily. Saturday's Dealer: "Justices to Decide on Taft Records"

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/112090172763331.xml&coll=2

Justices to decide on Taft records

Governor has cited executive privilege

Saturday, July 09, 2005

T.C. Brown and Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus- The entire Ohio Supreme Court will participate in any decisions on a lawsuit seeking the release of records that Gov. Bob Taft says are protected by executive privilege.

In May, a majority of justices removed themselves from three lawsuits seeking the release of records involving $50 million in rare-coin investments by the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

The former manager of that investment - Tom Noe, a Toledo coin dealer and prodigious Republican fund-raiser - had given more than $23,000 to five of the seven justices.

<>The suit would be the Supreme Court's first decision on whether executive privilege involving public records and the governor's office exists under Ohio law.

more...

[rucky]

37. have these judges repayed the Compensation fund?

for the bribes they received?

[newswolf56]

45. This story is covered by the Ohio shield law. A federal...

... election story would NOT be so protected if its sources were federal: federal leakers, federal documents, especially federal documents about secret police or spook operations. Also, if the feds wanted to be real pricks, they could probably invoke federal law -- in this case the absence of federal law -- merely because the election itself is a national (federal) election. (Which would lead to some interesting legal quarrels, since BushCabal generally claims elections are matters of states rights -- except of course when it claims they're not.)

[Zorbuddha]

32. 'Plain Dealer', my ass.

So, deal plainly.

How ironic.

Maybe the NYT should be renamed the Plame Dealer?

[BR_Parkway]

35. Can't report the facts? Report the investigation into who leaked

the facts! Did they just out themselves to invite an investigation? They they can report on whatever is investigated.

Looks like they've just admitted the crime of the leak, now there needs to be an investigation into who, what, where and when - the story spills and they've kept their word to not reveal their source.

Sounds like the editors didn't agree with the owner's decisions. There's always a way to get the info out there. And a paper is going to want to get the exclusive, rather than leak it to the BBC or some other organization that has balls/isn't subject to the US laws.

[Totally Committed]

38. No guts, no glory!

Just another example of a gutless media so far up its own asshole, it can't make itself serve the people it is supposed to serve.

What a bunch of losers!

TC

[leesa]

39. "...would be problematical for the person who leaked it..." Well, if it

was sealed and he/she leaked it, then it is a crime.

[Roland99]

40. Bet you $100 if the CPD wasn't owned by Repukes those articles would print

[Pryderi]

65. Exactly. The editorial board was going to endorse Kerry, but was

overruled by the publisher.

Dear All-

I learned this morning that tomorrow morning's edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer will endorse George Bush for a second four-year term. What makes this particularly disgraceful and quite terrifying is that the seven-member editorial board of the PD voted 5-2 to endorse John Kerry. The publisher overruled them and announced the paper would support Bush. Similarly, the Lorain Journal editors were told that either they endorse George Bush or they endorse no one. So, they are endorsing no one.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/23/153258/67

[Matariki]

43. DAMN! the subject line was *such* a tease...

[newswolf56]

44. Note my Post 14 above and the responses. The fact...

...Ohio has a shield law to protect reporters while the United States does not proves the story The Cleveland Plain Dealer is afraid to print is a federal matter. The only federal story I know of that's come out of Ohio recently is the 2004 election: specifically the repeated allegations that Bush stole it and the many disclosures supporting those allegations. If this is indeed true, if this is what the story is about, it is far bigger than Watergate. It is indeed a pivotal story in the history of the United States -- the biggest story since the Revolution -- and the fact the Plain Dealer is too terrified to publish it is merely a yardstick of the extent to which BushCabal America has already become BananaRepublic Amerika.

Above all else, this story needs to stay alive.

[Matariki]

47. I feel ignorant asking this question...

Is there *any* sort of investigation happening in Ohio, re the election? It seems tragic if the only justice that we'll get is through the court of public opinion, i.e. the media.

[Matariki]

48. oh yeah, nevermind

I just recalled Conyer's Blog post about the 'whitewashed' DOJ investigation.

*sigh*

[newswolf56]

49. There have been several, including by the Federal...

...Election Commission, the Department of Justice, various academics, local advocacy groups, local newspapers, even The New Yorker magazine, for which see (former Bush-supporter) Christopher Hitchens' excellent piece in the March 2005 issue detailing the evidence of fraud and deliberate discouragement of minority and/or Democratic voters. In fact I've probably left out a few; I didn't start following this story until relatively late in the game. (Googling "ohio election fraud" gets 32,200 hits.)

[Matariki]

50. are all these investigation in the past tense?

[newswolf56]

52. Don't know. As far as I know, the federal probes are...

...all finished, but some of the private and/or newspaper investigations may still be alive. (I'm on the West Coast; what happens in Ohio is never reported by my local media even if it is nationally significant, so my only sources have been DU, its links and, to a much lesser degree, The Washington Post. In fact from here it's easier to find out about stuff in China than in Ohio.)

[Matariki]

56. west coast too.

[newswolf56]

58. It's only indirectly relevant to this topic, but from your CV...

...you might find my contributions to the following thread interesting:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=228&topic_id=7454&mesg_id=7454

[Egalitariat]

55. Where's the part about the vote rigging?*****

nm

[Bluesplayer]

60. I hope

Personally, I hope that Bush actually DID win both elections fairly, although for a different reason that his supporters may have.

I believe that history will judge Bush's presidency to have been a complete and utter failure, in every conceivable way. I don't even think we'll have to wait that long for the judgement to be made, because I have great hopes that the next president will be able to repair the damage that Bush has done, thus providing a pretty clear contrast to judge by.

If, however, it becomes fact that his election and re-election were accomplished only through fraud, his failures will only be magnified by his illegitimacy.

[Al-CIAda]

61. .

[melissinha]

63. Editors vs owners

Sounds like the editors didn't agree with the owner's decisions.

Most likely, BR_Parkway..... Its the main problem we are facing today.. for some reason or another, real journalists and editors are being stiffled by the wished of their owners who appear to be partisan.

Now some of you may have heard of this.. I did.. months ago on the election forum.... I will never let this die... This came from none other than the fearless Toledo Blade... But no one has given this any credence...

Ohio Democrats victims of break-in
Thieves grab computer from party headquaters in Columbus (2 weeks before the election0
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041021/NEWS03/410210423/-1/NEWS
Basically the police decided that it wasn't politically motivated and that was that... BULL SHIT.... cash was NOT stolen but precious computer containing sensitive information WAS.

Recent article by BEllaciao.... There was another burglary like the one in Lucas County....But in Ohio (state) Democratic Headquarters in Columbus
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=6765

Richard Hayes Phillips Ties Lucas County Burglary to Voting Irregularities
In a December 25th article, Richard Hayes Phillips analyzes the Lucas County returns and ties them to the burglary and theft of Democratic Party headquarters in Lucas County.
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/1037

[Al-CIAda]

64. ,