Boston.com | Infiltration of files seen as extensive

"Democrats now claim their private memos formed the basis for a February 2003 column by conservative pundit Robert Novak that revealed plans pushed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, to filibuster certain judicial nominees. Novak is also at the center of an investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA agent whose husband contradicted a Bush administration claim about Iraqi nuclear programs.
Citing 'internal Senate sources,' Novak's column described closed-door Democratic meetings about how to handle nominees.
Its details and direct quotes from Democrats -- characterizing former nominee Miguel Estrada as a 'stealth right-wing zealot' and describing the GOP agenda as an 'assembly line' for right-wing nominees -- are contained in talking points and meeting accounts from the Democratic files now known to have been compromised.
Novak declined to confirm or deny whether his column was based on these files.
'They're welcome to think anything they want,' he said. 'As has been demonstrated, I don't reveal my sources.'"

Amazing, really! It should be bigger than Watergate.

Hacking, even casual, is a federal crime that has commanded severe penalties (e.g. Kevin Mitnick). Shouldn't hacking for political gain be even more punishable? Maybe not when it is perpetrated by criminals close to the administration. Isn't there some surprise that these illegal acts were performed by GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee?

I wonder if Novak would stand up to the Kenneth Starr treatment -- say a year in jail to think about why he won't reveal his sources and why he was an accomplice, even instrumental, in breaking federal law twice (Valerie Plame and now the GOP Trollgate).

Thanks to this modern world.