Five reporters ordered to testify

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Five reporters face contempt sanctions if they fail to disclose information ruled central to a former U.S. military scientist’s case.

Steven J. Hatfill, a bioterrorism expert, is entitled to know the names of the reporters’ sources because the information is important to his case against the U.S. Justice Department, federal Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled Monday.

Hatfill, who worked for the Army, claims the Justice Department violated his privacy by giving reporters information about him in a government investigation of deadly anthrax mailings in 2001, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The reporters have acknowledged they received information from the Justice Department and the FBI, but they have refused to reveal the names of their sources. The reporters are Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman of Newsweek; Allan Lengel of The Washington Post; Toni Locy, formerly of USA Today; and James Stewart, formerly of CBS News.