Supreme Court won’t hear taped call dispute

An 11-year legal battle between Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) over the leaking of a taped cell phone conversation ended Monday when the Supreme Court refused to review the case.

The inaction leaves in place a previous federal appeals court ruling that McDermott acted improperly by giving reporters a recording of a 1996 phone call between House Republican leaders who were discussing the House ethics case against then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

{mosads}That decision, issued in May, upheld a previous court decision ordering McDermott to pay Boehner $60,000 in damages and more than $800,000 in legal costs to Boehner.

McDermott asked the Supreme Court to hear his appeal, arguing that the previous ruling violated his free speech rights.

McDermott had a mixed reaction to the Supreme Court’s failure to take up his case, expressing disappointment at the final outcome but pride in his decision to fight for free speech rights.

“I knew when I asked the Supreme Court to review this case that the odds were against me, since the court accepts only a small fraction of the cases submitted,” he said in a statement.

“Nonetheless, I thought that the constitutional principles presented — the First Amendment protection of truthful speech and the separation of powers doctrine — warranted the court’s attention,” he added. “I pursued this case based on my belief in the people’s right to know, and I continue to believe it was my sworn responsibility to vigorously defend that right.”
Boehner expressed relief that the dispute ended in his favor.

“As I’ve said many times: When you break the law in pursuit of a political opponent, you’ve gone too far,” he said in a statement. “Members of Congress have a responsibility not only to obey the laws of our country and the rules of our institution, but also to defend the integrity of those laws and rules when they are violated.”