Wen Ho Lee Settlement

Nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee reached an out-of-court settlement with the Department of Justice and five news media organizations in a privacy lawsuit he brought that led to reporters being held in contempt for refusing to divulge their confidential sources.  The settlement ends a prospect that the reporters, including Pierre Thomas of ABC News, could be sent to jail for protecting their sources.

The news media organizations were not named in Lee’s lawsuit, but they, according to the lawyers, contributed to the settlement paid to Lee in an undisclosed amount. CNN, where Thomas worked when he did his stories on Lee, refused to be part of the settlement. A joint announcement is expected within the hour.