PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – U.S. District Judge Anna Brown will hear oral arguments Friday on the government’s attempt to compel a reporter to testify in the second trial for the occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon.
The government wants former Oregon Public Broadcaster reporter John Sepulvado to authenticate his January 2016 recorded interview of Ryan Bundy during the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
An attorney for Sepulvado and Oregon Public Broadcasting filed a motion to quash the government’s subpoena. OPB attorney Duane Bosworth contends the compelled testimony would “chill future sources” for Sepulvado and other OPB reporters.
The ACLU of Oregon and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have filed briefs in support of OPB.
Trial began this week for four men who joined leaders Ryan and Ammon Bundy at last winter’s occupation of the refuge. A jury acquitted the Bundys last fall.