Today's WSJ:
Sidney's Subpoenas
Congressional Democrats are just now pondering whether to
jump ship on the White House over resisting Kenneth Starr's subpoena of
President Clinton. As an indication of where this vessel is bound, they might
want to take a look at Sidney's subpoenas, that is, those just issued by Sidney
Blumenthal, hitman for the First Lady.
It has taken Mr. Blumenthal's fancy to start
subpoenaing journalists, including our editorial board
member John Fund. The subpoena directs Mr. Fund
to deliver "any and all documents relating to Sidney
Blumenthal" by Friday July 31 or Tuesday August
4--depending on which document you read of the two
Mr. Fund was served at home at 8:15 Saturday
morning. Mr. Blumenthal's wife and something called
"The Blumenthal Project" are also included. Finally,
there are any and alls for Matt Drudge, the Drudge
Report, Michael Ledeen, Barbara Ledeen, Richard
Carlson, Tucker Carlson of The Weekly Standard
and David Brock, formerly of The American
Spectator. If you need a road map, this is Mr.
Blumenthal's private enemies list, except that
one-time enemy David Brock has apparently switched camp to become an
ally.
From his White House ward, Mr. Blumenthal imagines he's acquired the right
to subpoena all this by virtue of his private libel suit against Mr. Drudge. The
internet Drudge Report once reported a rumor that Mr. Blumenthal had been
accused of wife-beating, an accusation Mr. Drudge quickly withdrew and
apologized for. Mr. Blumenthal nonetheless sued, and is now using his lawsuit
on behalf of Bill Clinton, setting out to harass and intimidate the President's
critics, including this newspaper. Our attorney likely will have to file motions
to quash this abuse of the subpoena power.
Mr. Blumenthal was of course wronged by publication of the unsubstantiated
rumor, but this may be a $1 lawsuit. Mr. Drudge apologized, and Mr.
Blumenthal is a public figure. Quick retraction both mitigates damages and
serves as evidence against the personal animus public figures typically have
to show to recover punitive damages. Presumably the subpoenas are trying to
establish a source for Mr. Drudge's comments, but it's a curious exercise for
a libel plaintiff to show the defendant had a source. Asked about this, Mr.
Blumenthal's lawyer said he wants to question Mr. Fund so he can sue him
next--then disavowed this burst of candor by denying the subpoena is a
fishing expedition.
To state the obvious, The Wall Street Journal did not print the Blumenthal
rumor. Mr. Blumenthal now asks us to account for any reporting that led us
not to print it. For the record, Mr. Fund did attend a Washington dinner four
years ago with Mr. Brock at which the rumor was broached, but the two
stopped talking after a falling-out over FBI agent Gary Aldrich's accusations
of White House security breaches. Mr. Fund has never discussed Mr.
Blumenthal with Mr. Drudge and has never heard of anything called "the
Blumenthal Project."
But of course this is not a rational damage suit, but a political jihad on behalf
of the President of the United States. Just what are all documents "relating to
Sidney Blumenthal"? We would be glad to send the three volumes of our
Whitewater collection, compiling the evidence it is Mr. Blumenthal's job to
obscure. We also have a nice collection of articles on feminism by Barbara
Ledeen, and on national defense issues by Michael. The impossible sweep of
the subpoena is evidence of at best a fishing expedition, at worst an attempt
to punish with logistical burdens.
Abuse of the legal process, not sexual acrobatics, is the Clinton
Administration's most serious sin. We have the Attorney General spurning
requests by the head of the FBI and her own handpicked investigator to name
a campaign finance independent counsel. We have Craig Livingstone
rummaging through FBI files, including, we belatedly learn, those of Mr.
Aldrich and Linda Tripp. We have missing documents appearing in the White
House Family quarters. We have Janet Reno blessing an investigation of the
American Spectator on just how it spent its money producing articles critical
of the President. And now we have Mr. Blumenthal's speciously private
effort to harass critical journalists.
This is a sign of desperation that all Democrats ought to ponder as they get
sucked deeper and deeper into the Clinton vortex. Howard Kurtz of The
Washington Post reports of an earlier White House report attacking Sue
Schmidt of the Post, and chartered by Hillary Clinton at the suggestion of Mr.
Blumenthal before he joined the White House. Press Secretary Mike
McCurry sequestered all copies, telling a staff meeting, "This is the dumbest
idea I've ever heard in my life." With his usual keen timing, Mr. McCurry
announced his resignation last week, as Sidney's subpoenas were being
drafted. |
