McDermott to appeal judge's order to pay $600,000 in cell phone case

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., said yesterday he would appeal a federal judge's ruling ordering him to pay more than $600,000 to a Republican congressman whose taped cell phone conversation McDermott gave to reporters.

McDermott's decision extends the long-running and expensive legal skirmish between him and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.

The appeal aims to reverse an Oct. 22 ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan concluding that McDermott acted "maliciously" when he gave reporters an "illegal intercept" of a cell phone conversation between then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other senior House Republicans. The call was held to discuss ethics charges against Gingrich brought in the mid-1990s.

Boehner, who at the time was one of Gingrich's lieutenants, sued McDermott in 1998 for turning over a transcript of the conversation to reporters. McDermott received the transcript of the conference call from a Florida couple who intercepted the signal from Boehner's cell phone as he was parked at a restaurant in northern Florida.

Hogan ruled that McDermott violated federal wiretapping law and ordered him to pay $60,000 in damages to Boehner and to cover his legal costs. Those costs weren't itemized, but in an August interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Boehner estimated that he spent $642,000.

McDermott said in a statement yesterday that he would base his appeal on his constitutional right of free expression.

"From the very first, my assertion has been that it's a First Amendment question," McDermott said. "The American people can only make reasonable judgments (about their government) if they know what's going on. ... It's a core principle, and it's important to make it an issue and push it as far as you can."

McDermott's attorney, Frank Cicero, telegraphed McDermott's intention by filing a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. A hearing date has yet to be set for the case.

Steve Forde, a spokesman for Boehner, said the congressman wasn't surprised by McDermott's decision, given the history of the case.

"It was an option available to him. We're not surprised," he said.

At the same time, Forde said, Boehner and his lawyers are confident they will prevail.

"We continue to believe the strongest statement is the ruling Judge Hogan put forth," Forde said.

P-I Washington correspondent Charles Pope can be reached at 202-263-6461 or charliepope@seattlepi.com