Declan McCullagh -- the Wired News reporter who on March 8 was subpoenaed by the Justice Department to testify in the case against cypherpunk Jim Bell -- filed a motion on Thursday with the U.S. District Court to quash the subpoena, claiming it would violate the First Amendment protections accorded to journalists.
Bell, who is famous for popularizing "Assassination Politics," a site that incorporated digital cash and encryption in a scheme to anonymously off political figures, has been charged with two counts of violating federal stalking laws. The trial is set to begin on Tuesday in Tacoma, Washington.
McCullagh has covered the Bell saga for Wired News, and the government says it only needs him to verify the statements attributed to Bell in two of McCullagh's stories, according to an e-mail sent to McCullagh from Assistant U.S. Attorney Robb London.
But "that would leave a lot of leeway for the defense to ask me questions -- and that's where it starts to get really messy really quickly," McCullagh said on Thursday from his home in Washington, D.C.
In his motion to the court, McCullagh argues that even limited testimony would leave him open to revealing information that has not been published.
"While the government might intend only to elicit testimony regarding published information -- which McCullagh has offered to verify by affidavit -- the subpoena sets the stage for an inquiry into McCullagh's news gathering practices and his unpublished work product," the motion says.
"Based on the statements of Bell's counsel, it appears likely that Bell will attempt to use McCullagh as his mouthpiece by compelling him to repeat before the jury Bell's allegations of conspiracy and persecution by federal prosecutors and agents, and by compelling McCullagh to disclose information that he has gathered ... for publications including Wired News and Time magazine."
McCullagh said he hoped Judge Jack E. Tanner would grant the motion, because he has already suffered negative effects from the subpoena.
"I talk to a lot of people who don't trust the government, and I don't want my sources to wonder who I'm working for -- Wired News or the government," he said.
