Oscar-Winning Screenwriter Wants Court To Protect Bergdahl Interview Tapes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for an Oscar-winning screenwriter says a judge should block a military effort to get hours of interviews he recorded with Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

A judge in Los Angeles federal court took the matter under submission Monday after a government lawyer argued the case belongs in military court.

Screenwriter and producer Mark Boal has invoked a reporter's privilege to protect 25 hours of recordings of Bergdahl discussing abandoning his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and being held in enemy captivity five years.

Boal's lawyer says it's unprecedented for a military prosecutor to subpoena a civilian reporter, and a federal judge should block any subpoena.

A lawyer for the government says Boal can challenge a subpoena in military courts and ultimately return to federal court if those efforts fail.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)