NEW YORK, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A judge in New York ruled Thursday a federal prosecutor could not inspect phone records of two New York Times reporters to learn their confidential sources.
Special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who was appointed by the Justice Department to investigate alleged government leaks about a CIA official but has since broadened his investigation, argued that he needed the records for a grand jury's investigation of leaks to the reporters of impending government actions against two Islamic charities.
The New York Times said Judge Robert W. Sweet in New York ruled that Fitzgerald had not offered evidence sufficient to overcome what the judge said was substantial legal protections for the reporters, Judith Miller and Philip Shenon.
Fitzgerald had won rulings in a separate case involving Miller and Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper. A judge and federal appeals court in Washington ordered the reporters to face jail time if they do not reveal sources.
