Jeffrey Toobin has an excellent new article in the New Yorker, available here, on how reporters are finding it increasingly difficult to protect their sources as a result of the frequency with which they are being subpoenaed in criminal investigations. He explains how Judge Tatel's decision in PlameGate is not the law of the land, or even in the federal courts in the District of Columbia, and that journalists fighting the subpoenas have little cause for optimism.

Toobin also discusses how defendants intend to fight back. Case in point: Scooter Libby.

As Libby's lawyers prepare for his trial, which will probably take place this year, they are expected to ask to see the journalists' notes, and they may subpoena other reporters who covered the investigation. At the trial, Libby's team will try to undermine the journalists' credibility by challenging them on everything from sloppy note-taking to evidence of bias. "This guy is on trial for his freedom, and it's not his job to be worried about the rights of the witnesses against him," a person close to Libby's defense team said. "There are going to be fights over access to the reporters' notes, their prior history and credibility, and their interviews with other people. By the time this trial is over, the press is going to regret that this case was ever brought."