Matthew Cooper

Matthew Cooper is the Time correspondent involved in the outing of Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operative.

Cooper to Testify
It was reported July 6, 2005, that "Cooper, who has refused in the past to name his sources in highly charged journalism case, told Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan that he had received 'expressed personal consent' to reveal his identity.

"'Consequently I am prepared to testify,' he told the judge. Time had said last week it would give up Cooper's notes that it held." 

"Cooper's turnaround came at a hearing at which Hogan was to consider whether to jail Cooper and Miller for defying his order to testify about their confidential sources in the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity." 

"Hogan held the reporters in civil contempt of court in October, rejecting their argument that the First Amendment shielded them from revealing their sources. Last month the Supreme Court refused to intervene.

"In court documents filed Tuesday, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald urged Hogan to take the unusual step of jailing the reporters, saying that may be the only way to get them to talk." 

However, Cooper "still won't publicly identify his source in the C-I-A leak case.

"After declaring, 'I have kept my word for two years,' the Time magazine reporter said he will tell a grand jury who in the Bush administration leaked an agent's name. Cooper says the source today gave him 'personal, unambiguous, uncoerced' permission to testify -- but that doesn't extend to revealing the name of the source publicly." 

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Judith Miller
 * Karl Rove: Outing Valerie Plame
 * Robert Novak
 * Trial of Scooter Libby
 * Valerie Plame

2004

 * John F. Dickerson and Viveca Novak, "The CIA Agent Flap: FBI Asks for Reporters to Talk," Time Online, January 2, 2004: "Investigators are pressing Administration officials to let journalists tell whatever they know about the leak of a CIA agent's identity."
 * "CIA Leak Probe Focuses on Confidentiality Pledges," Reuters, January 2, 2004.
 * Derek Seidman, "CounterPunch," Weekend Edition, February 20-22, 2004.
 * Susan Schmidt and Carol Leonnig, "Reporter Held In Contempt in CIA Leak Case," Washington Post, August 10, 2004.
 * Curt Anderson, "Time reporter gives statement in CIA leak probe, avoids possible jail sentence," Associated Press, August 24, 2004: "In a statement Tuesday, Time said reporter Matthew Cooper agreed to give a deposition after Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, personally released Cooper from a promise of confidentiality about a conversation the two had last year. ... Cooper was held in civil contempt earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan for refusing to testify in the leak probe. Hogan rejected Time's claims, as well as those of Meet the Press host Tim Russert, that the First Amendment protected them from having to testify. ... Cooper had faced up to 18 months in jail and the magazine could have been forced to pay $1,000 a day under the contempt order, which has now been vacated."
 * Richard B. Schmitt, "A Sign of Hope for Reporters in CIA Leak Case. One judge questions whether the government has unchecked power to make journalists reveal their sources in issues before grand juries," Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2004.

2005

 * "Excerpts from the Court of Appeals Decisions on Miller and Cooper," Editor & Publisher, February 15, 2005.
 * Adam Liptak, "Appeals Court Says Reporters Must Testify or Go to Jail," New York Times, February 15, 2005.
 * Jack Shafer, "Memo to Cooper and Miller. Fire Floyd Abrams. Hire Bruce Sanford," Slate, February 15, 2005. Read U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling, February 15, 2005.
 * Carol D. Leonnig, "Reporters must testify, court rules. Says journalists in CIA case can be jailed for refusing," Washington Post, February 16, 2005.
 * Bob Engber, "What About Bob? Judith Miller and Matt Cooper seem to be headed for jail. Why isn't Robert Novak?" Slate, February 17, 2005.
 * Barbara W. Wall, "Reporters in Plame Leak Investigation Ordered to Testify or Face Jail," Gannett, February 18, 2005.
 * Joe Strupp, "Abrams Files Appeal for Cooper and Miller in Plame Case," Editor & Publisher, March 21, 2005.
 * "Plame Case, All Over But the Jailing?" Editor & Publisher, April 6, 2005.
 * Carol D. Leonnig, "Papers Say Leak Probe Is Over," Washington Post, April 7, 2005.
 * William E. Jackson, Jr., "Plame Game Enters Bottom of 9th Inning ," Editor & Publisher, April 7, 2005.
 * Adam Liptak, "C.I.A. Leak Inquiry Is Near End, Prosecutor Says," (abstract) New York Times, April 8, 2005.
 * Joe Strupp, "'Matt and Judy Show': Cooper and Miller on the Plame Case," Editor & Publisher, April 12, 2005.
 * "Full D.C. Circuit Won't Hear Miller/Cooper Case; Only Step Left is Supreme Court," Editor & Publisher, April 19, 2005.
 * Adam Liptak, "Court Declines Case of Reporters in Leak Case," New York Times, April 19, 2005.
 * "Loss For CIA-Leak Case Reporters," AP, April 19, 2005.
 * Terry Frieden, "Appeals court rejects reporters' appeal. Time, New York Times seek Supreme Court review," CNN, April 20, 2005.
 * Joe Strupp, "Finally, Miller and Cooper Turn to the Supreme Court," Editor & Publisher, April 20, 2005.
 * William E. Jackson, Jr., "Matt Cooper, Facing Jail, Awaits Appeal to Supreme Court," Editor & Publisher, April 22, 2005.
 * John W. Dean, "An Update on the Investigation Into the Leak Of CIA Agent Plame's Identity: Will The Supreme Court Take The Miller And Cooper Cases?" FindLaw's Writ, April 22, 2005.
 * Barbara W. Wall, "Plame Investigation Case to Be Appealed to U.S. Supreme Court," Gannett, May 6, 2005.
 * "Supreme Court urged to protect reporters from jail time," AP, May 10, 2005.
 * Jack Shafer, "What Matt Cooper Shares With Yaser Hamdi. A new petition before the Supreme Court explains all," Slate, May 11, 2005.
 * Adam Liptak, "State Attorneys General Ask Supreme Court to Hear 2 Reporters' Case," (abstract) New York Times, May 28, 2005.
 * Allan Wolper, "Was It Proper for 'WP' Reporter to Talk to Plame Prosecutor?" Editor & Publisher, May 31, 2005: "Walter Pincus, a Washington Post investigative reporter, gave a deposition in the Valerie Plame investigation. In a previous 'Ethics Corner' column, Miami Herald reporter David Kidwell criticized him for doing so. Here, Pincus responds."
 * Joe Strupp, "Supreme Court To Decide This Week On Hearing Plame Case," Editor & Publisher, June 20, 2005.
 * "Miller/Cooper Case Reaches Supreme Court Thursday; White House Has No Comment," Editor & Publisher, June 22, 2005.
 * Jane Roh, "Journalists Hope Court Takes Up Plame Case," Fox News, June 26, 2005.
 * Richard B. Schmitt, "High Court Declines to Hear Appeal of Reporters in Plame Case," Los Angeles Times, June 27, 2005: "The Supreme Court today cleared the way for the Justice Department to jail two reporters who refused to reveal confidential sources to a special prosecutor investigating how the name of an undercover CIA operative ended up in a newspaper column. ... The high court declined to hear the appeal of reporters Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, who had argued that the 1st Amendment protected them from having to identify their sources to prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the politically charged case."
 * Gina Holland, "Supreme Court Won't Hear CIA Leak Case," AP, June 27, 2005.
 * Joe Strupp, "Supreme Court Will Not Hear Miller/Cooper Case," Editor & Publisher, June 27, 2005.
 * Joe Strupp, "Miller/Cooper Case Returns To Federal Judge," Editor & Publisher, June 27, 2005.
 * Joe Strupp, "UPDATE: Judge to Consider Miller/Cooper Case on Wednesday," Editor & Publisher, June 27, 2005.
 * "Sulzberger, Miller, and Time Inc. Respond to Supreme Court Setback," Editor & Publisher, June 27, 2005.
 * "Joseph Wilson Responds to Decision in Plame Case," Editor & Publisher, June 27, 2005.
 * Tom Brune, "Jail looms for two journalists. Supreme Court turns down the appeal of reporters who have refused to name their sources in leak probe," Newsday, June 28, 2005: "After the Supreme Court rejected their appeals Monday, two journalists who refused to reveal their confidential sources in a federal leak probe could face an order to go to jail as soon as this week."
 * Glenn Harlan Reynolds, "No 'journalistic privilege'," USA Today, June 28, 2005.
 * Op-Ed: "Twilight zone for reporters," USA Today, June 28, 2005.
 * Claudia Parsons, "Time Inc says will hand over papers in Plame case," Reuters, June 30, 2005.
 * "MSNBC Analyst Says Cooper Documents Reveal Karl Rove as Source in Plame Case," Editor & Publisher, July 1, 2005: "Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to federal court, presumably revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant on the name of that source, and what might happen to him or her. Tonight, on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show, Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, claimed to know that name--and it is, according to him, top White House mastermind Karl Rove." Article includes transcript of O'Donnell's remarks.
 * Scott Shane, "Private Spy and Public Spouse Live at Center of Leak Case," New York Times, July 5, 2005.
 * M. Kane Jeeves, "Bush's Damaged Control," mkanejeeves.com, July 5, 2005.
 * Kevin Drum, "All Eyes on Rove," Washington Monthly, July 5, 2005: "Time Inc. may have turned over Matt Cooper's emails and notes to prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the Valerie Plame case, but that doesn't mean Cooper is out of the woods. Fitzgerald may still want Cooper to testify in person tomorrow, and if Cooper refuses to divulge his sources he might be facing jail time regardless of whether the Time Inc. suits have obeyed the court order."
 * Pete Yost, "Judge Orders Jail for N.Y. Times Reporter," Associated Press, July 6, 2005.
 * "Time magazine's Matthew Cooper has agreed to testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of an undercover CIA operative's name," Herald Sun, July 6, 2005.
 * Kevin Drum, "Cooper is Testifying," Washington Monthly, July 6, 2005: Yesterday: "Karl Rove's lawyer says that Rove has signed a waiver allowing reporters to testify about their conversations with him in the Valerie Plame case. However, the nature of the waiver was unclear, and Matt Cooper still intended to refuse to testify about his source anyway. ... Today, however, Cooper told the judge that "in somewhat dramatic fashion," he got a personal communication from his source this morning telling him it was OK to testify. (Via Fox News, no link.) Judith Miller, on the other hand, appears to be practically eager to go to jail."
 * "Times Reporter Won't Name Names," CBS News/AP, July 6, 2005.
 * "Time reporter says he will testify to grand jury but won't identify source publicly," AP, July 6, 2005.
 * "Cooper to Disclose Grand Jury Testimony in 'Time'," Editor & Publisher, July 13, 2005.

2007

 * emptywheel, "The Scooter Libby Trial, Part One--The Cooper Charge," Daily Kos, January 8, 2007.
 * "UPDATES ALL DAY: Miller Finishes Testimony in Libby Trial -- Matt Cooper Takes the Stand," Editor & Publisher, January 31, 2007.
 * Richard B. Schmitt, "Former Time reporter said Libby, Rove told him of Plame," Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2007.