I have felt from the start that Glenn Beck was on shaky ground trying to win a defamation suit against him concerning comments he made in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. Beck claimed two sources told him Saudi Arabian student Abdulrahman Alharbi, injured and seen on video of the scene after the attack, was the “money man” of the operation.
After federal authorities say Alharbi wasn't suspected in the attack, Beck continued to stand by his story. The judge in the case this week said her efforts to find a connection between Alharbi and the bombing by making requests for government records failed to establish one.
So she has ordered Beck to reveal his sources.
If he fails to do so he could be held in contempt. That could include the judge ordering him jailed.
Once someone in the media reveals a source, nobody will ever talk with him or her again; nobody could possibly trust someone who, even once, gave up a source. But Beck may have no choice. The judge's search couldn't establish a link to Alharbi and it appears Beck's deposition was shaky and contradictory. The judge appears to have no choice but to order Beck to reveal his sources. As one in the media I understand the need to protect sources, which I have. But as I said, Beck appears to have painted himself into a corner here.
