Murray W. Miller, Cross-Appellee v. Transamerican Press, Inc., Cross-Appellants, and Sam Steiger, Deponent, Cross-Appellee
Opinion
Opinion
Wright, J.
This is an appeal from an order denying a motion to compel a deponent’s testimony. The major issue is whether a nonparty former Congressman may invoke the speech or debate privilege as to questions about material he inserted into the Congressional Record.
FACTS
An article appeared in the June 1972 issue of Overdrive Magazine implying that Miller, a union pension fund trustee, had misappropriated funds. In 1973, he filed a libel suit against Transamerican Press and others, the publishers of Overdrive (“Trans-american”), in Texas federal court.
Shortly after the article appeared, then-Congressman Steiger of Arizona inserted it in the Congressional Record. See 118 Cong. Rec. 27,401-03 (1972). Steiger was not named a defendant in Miller’s lawsuit.
In Arizona in 1981, Miller served former Congressman Steiger with a subpoena duc-es tecum for a deposition. After counsel for the parties assembled for the deposition, Steiger announced that he would not attend.
Miller asked the Arizona federal court to hold Steiger in contempt for not answering the subpoena. Both parties sought reimbursement from Steiger for their expenses in the frustrated effort to take the deposition. Transamerican…