Attorney general says reporters can face charges for stories

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Sunday he thinks journalists can be prosecuted for publishing classified information, citing an obligation to national security.

The nation's top law enforcer also said the government will not hesitate to track telephone calls made by reporters as part of a criminal leak investigation, but that officials would not do so routinely and randomly.

"There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility," Gonzales said, referring to prosecutions. "We have an obligation to enforce those laws. We have an obligation to ensure that our national security is protected."

In recent months, journalists have been called into court to testify as part of investigations into leaks, including the unauthorized disclosure of a CIA agent's name as well as the National Security Agency's warrantless-eavesdropping program.

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said she assumed Gonzales was referring to the 1917 Espionage Act, which she said has never been interpreted to prosecute journalists who were providing information to the public.

"I can't imagine a bigger chill on free speech and the public's right to know what its government is up to — both hallmarks of a democracy — than prosecuting reporters," Dalglish said.

Gonzales said he would not comment specifically on whether The New York Times should be prosecuted for disclosing the National Security Agency program last year based on classified information.

He also said authorities would not randomly check journalists' records on domestic-to-domestic phone calls in an effort to find journalists' confidential sources. "We don't engage in domestic-to-domestic surveillance without a court order," Gonzales said.