News Leaks

A top aide to former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr is scheduled to stand trial next week on a criminal contempt-of-court charge stemming from a probe of alleged news leaks during the investigation of President Clinton. Charles G. Bakaly III, who worked for Starr during the Monica S. Lewinsky investigation and subsequent impeachment proceedings, is to appear July 13 before Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson, according to court documents made public Thursday.

The Senate's agony over the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court appears likely to have unexpected side effects, such as solidifying a strong congressional consensus for legislation to impose penalties for sexual harassment in the workplace. On a related front, the furor over the leak of an FBI report on Anita Faye Hill's harassment allegations against Thomas has triggered a renewed effort to plug news leaks of damaging information by senators and their aides.

A low-key investigation into news leaks about sexual harassment charges against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas and the "Keating Five" conflict-of-interest case appears likely to become a high-profile constitutional confrontation between the press and politicians. At issue is the Senate's broad power to investigate the leaks and the First Amendment's guarantee of press freedom, which most journalists believe gives them the right to protect confidential sources.

There were 24 leaks of grand jury information in the Monica S. Lewinsky investigation in violation of federal law and all were linked at least by inference to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's office, a federal judge said in court documents unsealed Friday. Chief U.S.

Life imitates art on TV from time to time, but perhaps never so closely as it does on tonight's "Murphy Brown" episode, in which Candice Bergen's character faces a U.S. Senate committee that is investigating a leaked confidential Senate report. This morning, a real-life broadcast reporter--National Public Radio's Nina Totenberg--was scheduled to face a Senate special counsel who really is investigating a leaked confidential Senate report.

The New York Times first debated publishing a story about secret eavesdropping on Americans as early as last fall, before the 2004 presidential election. But the newspaper held the story for more than a year and only revealed the secret wiretaps last Friday, when it became apparent a book by one of its reporters was about to break the news, according to journalists familiar with the paper's internal discussions.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, angered by a news article that disclosed CIA plans to undermine Col. Moammar Kadafi's government in Libya, is investigating the source of the news leak and the panel's own guidelines for protecting classified information, committee officials said Tuesday. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said he and the Senate panel's chairman, David Durenberger (R-Minn.), are searching for the source of a Nov.

A criminal investigation by the Justice Department has concluded that the chief spokesman for the attorney general and a former FBI official played roles in confirming a politically damaging CBS report about Rep. William H. Gray III of Pennsylvania, one of the top Democratic leaders in the House. The investigation failed to establish the original source of the information, but said the individual probably was outside the Justice Department, sources close to the investigation said Thursday.

Attorneys for former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Wen Ho Lee expressed concern about news leaks suggesting that prosecutors want to resume questioning Lee about downloading restricted data and other matters. The Washington Post reported that the FBI and federal prosecutors were considering seeking court approval to further question Lee, who pleaded guilty to a single count Sept. 13 and agreed to be interrogated under oath for 60 days.