Captain's Quarters Creates International Incident

Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters has created a growing controversy by printing accounts of testimony from the Canadian "Adscam" inquiry. Justice John Gomery had imposed a ban on publication of the testimony by Canadian journalists. Some believe that the gag order is designed to protect the political interests of Canada's Liberal Party, who will most likely suffer political fallout from the Adscam testimony. Holding off publication would have allowed the Liberals to call an election before the testimony became public. After Captain's Quarters (American blogs are outside Gomery's jurisdiction) published the testimony, a Canadian website was threatened for linking to Captain's Quarters, even though they didn't repost the actual testimony.

Update: What is a "Publication Ban"?

This page on the Canadian Department of Justice website describes publication bans and their purpose. In the Adscam case, those giving testimony have been criminally charged. Their lawyers argued successfully in front of Justice John Gomery that allowing publication of their testimony would make it dificult to seat impartial juries in Montreal, where their trials will take place.

A CBC story from March 29 explains how the ban was put in place, and what the Adscam scandal is all about.