Reporter seeks to quash spy case subpoena

SANTA ANA, Calif., June 6 (UPI) -- Lawyers for a Washington journalist told a U.S. judge that a story written by their client did not necessarily imply he had revealed sealed grand jury material.

A motion filed Thursday seeks to quash a subpoena ordering Bill Gertz of The Washington Times to appear before a federal judge in Orange County, Calif., and reveal the sources used in a 2006 story about the investigation into a Chinese spy ring in Southern California.

Gertz's legal team contended that while the article stated that the government was expected to file additional charges in the espionage case, it did not necessarily mean the information came from grand jury material, the New York Sun said Friday.

Grand jury proceedings are by nature secret, but the motion also argued that freedom of the press protections outweighed the desire to learn how Gertz obtained his information.

The Sun said it was not immediately known if the June 13 hearing would be postponed.