The journalists processing the Panama Papers, a trove of tax documents documenting illegal acts of the world’s rich and powerful, are refusing to share their unpublished information with the U.S. Department of Justice. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) said they were shielded by the First Amendment from becoming “an arm of law enforcement.” (Washington Star-News, April 24, 2016, by the Fourth Estate Staff)
In the meantime, Germany’s federal states appealed for the journalists to release the entire Panama Papers to help them investigate the criminal acts of prominent politicians and powerful corporations. The ICIJ has yet to release any of the files they obtained from a Panamanian law firm. (Reuters, April 21, 2016, by Matthias Sobolewski and Michael Nienaber)