Dem Eavesdropper Punished

From the Way Back Machine, back in 1996 a couple, who supposedly loved to play with their scanner, miraculously taped a cellphone conversation between Newt Gingrich and John Boehner, a taping which took a lot more technological know how than a scanner. The couple were Dem activists and they gave that tape to Dem congressman Jim McDermott who then released the illegally taped call to the press. A long standing appeal on the subsequent lawsuit went against the Democrat:

Rep. Jim McDermott had no right to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott, a Washington Democrat, should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call.

McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the court said.

When he became a member of the ethics panel, McDermott "voluntarily accepted a duty of confidentiality that covered his receipt and handling of the ... illegal recording. He therefore had no First Amendment right to disclose the tape to the media," Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote on behalf of the court. Four judges agreed with him.

The ruling upholds a previous decision ordering McDermott to pay House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, more than $700,000 for leaking the taped conversation. The figure includes $60,000 in damages and more than $600,000 in legal costs.

Of course, McDermott is one of the many Dems who have tried to stop the U.S. Government from taping phone calls between foreign terrorists and people in the U.S.