McDermott Seeks Supreme Court Review Of Boehner Lawsuit

Rep. James McDermott (D-Wash.) will ask the Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that went in favor of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a long-running legal battle between the two lawmakers over an illegally recorded 1996 phone conversation involving Boehner and other top House Republicans.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled by a 5-4 margin back in May that McDermott improperly leaked the phone conversation, which involved GOP leaders - including Boehner - strategizing on how to deal with the fallout from an ethics case against then Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). Boehner sued McDermott for providing information on the call to the press. McDermott has argued that he was within his First Amendment rights to leak news of the conversation to reporters, arguing that it proved Gingrich and other senior Republicans violated their promise not to contest the ethics ruling against Gingrich.

The appeals court ruled against McDermott in May and ordered him to pay Boehner's legal fees, estimated at nearly $900,000, as well as $60,000 in penalties. McDermott now wants the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.