Rep. Peter King: Charge the N.Y. Times With Espionage

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) tells Chris Matthews that he’s calling on Atty. Gen. Gonzales to begin a criminal investigation into the newspaper for publishing details of President Bush’s financial information-mining program.

Crooks and Liars:

Peter King: Chris, I think the administration acted entirely appropriately. The 1976 U.S. Supreme Court case gives them, to me, the absolute right to do this. They?re in full compliance with all statutes. To me, the real question here is the conduct of the New York Times by disclosing this in time of war, they have compromised America?s anti-terrorist policies. This is a very effective policy. They have compromised it.

This is the second time the New York Times has done this. And to me, no one elected the New York Times to do anything. And the New York Times is putting its own arrogant elitist left wing agenda before the interests of the American people, and I?m calling on the Attorney General to begin a criminal investigation and prosecution of the New York Times ? its reporters, the editors who worked on this, and the publisher.

We?re in a time of war, Chris, and what they?ve done has violated the Espionage Act, the COMINT act. The time has come for the American people to realize, and the New York Times to realize, we?re at war and they can?t be on their own deciding what to declassify, what to release. If Congress wants to work on this privately, that?s one thing. But for them to, on their own, for the editor of the New York Times to say that he decides it?s in the national interest ? no one elected them to anything. Remember, this is the newspaper that brought us Jayson Blair. Going back a few years ago, they?re the ones who gave Fidel Castro his job in Cuba. They have no right to do this at all. The First Amendment is not absolute, especially when it comes to something like this, which is a clear violation of statutory law.”

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