Judge Orders Glenn Beck to Disclose Boston Marathon Bombing Story Sources

The judge presiding over a defamation suit against Glenn Beck may force the conservative talkshow host and political commentator to disclose his confidential sources, according to a 61-page decision out Tuesday.

The suit is based on a 2013 story involving Saudi Arabian student Abdulrahman Alharbi, now 23, and living in Revere. He was a spectator at the Boston Marathon injured in the bombing, and later questioned by federal officials in the course of their investigation into the the Marathon Bombing.

Beck's reporting previously identified Alharbi as the bombers' "money man" and the person who ordered the attack, even after federal authorities publicly exonerated him, prompting Alharbi to bring the defamation suit against Beck.

In the face of Alharbi's suit, Beck and his team maintain the information is true, and that they relied on "several confidential government sources in developing the broadcasts."

Alharbi has moved to compel the sources' identity, arguing "the confidential source information is directly relevant to his claims, and cannot otherwise be determined from a less sensitive source. "

U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris on Tuesday largely agreed with Alharbi's motion.

While acknowledging the First Amendment complications of compelling a reporter to name names, Sardis' order suggested she could limit the impact by restricting how that information was distributed. According to the judge's order, testimony from Beck and two others from the program was "vague and often contradictory."

Beck, his companies TheBlaze Inc. and Mercury Radio Arts, as well as radio distributor Premiere Radio Networks, are named in the case. It is unclear at this time whether they plan to comply with the judge's order.

Judge's order provided by Politico.

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