In 1998, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) -- a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee -- obtained and distributed to the media an illegally-obtained tape of a private conversation of Representative John Boehner (R-OH). After litigating the dispute for ten years, and losing each step of the way, McDermott is now being forced by a federal judge to pay Boehner some $1.6 million in damages and legal fees:

A federal judge in Washington has ordered Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott to pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees awarded to Minority Leader John A. Boehner as part of a protracted lawsuit involving an illegally taped cell phone call.

U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Hogan ruled that McDermott, D-Wash., must pay $1,053,181, plus $520,761 in interest to Boehner, R-Ohio.

McDermott's reaction is priceless:

“While the amount of damages assessed in this case is significant, I submit that defending the First Amendment is beyond measure and worth every penny,” McDermott said in a statement, adding, “With the end of this case, another threat against the First Amendment has been met and turned back.”

I guess it's true that the First Amendment has been defended -- after all, the court said that private citizens cannot have their phones illegally tapped by other private citizens. It's wonderful that McDermott was willing to spend so much of his time and money to make that point.

Still, it's amazing that House Democrats have stood with McDermott in his attempts to prod the courts to authorize warrantless wiretaps by private citizens against other law-abiding private citizens, while they continue to refuse to authorize government wiretaps of terrorist communications.

Wiretapping for me, but not for thee (i.e. -- you, the American people).

And unfortunately for McDermott, he won't be able to rely on his old buddy Saddam to help with the bill on this one.