"Then-Chief Justice Warren Burger was reportedly furious about the leak, demanding a meeting with Time's editors to tell them off. He also sent a letter to the other justices demanding that the leaker be identified and punished, and threatened to subject law clerks to lie-detector tests if no one came forward, Robenalt said. According to Peters, this was also the origin of Burger's "20-second rule," in which any law clerk caught talking to a reporter would be fired in under half a minute. Hammond offered his resignation to his boss, Justice Lewis Powell. But Powell didn't accept it, and instead called Burger to tell him "that Hammond had been double-crossed," writes Robenalt, who interviewed Hammond for his 2015 book about the political and cultural events of January 1973. Burger wasn't quick to forgive the magazine, but accepted Hammond's apology and let him stay on as Powell's clerk. He continued in that role for an additional term before leaving the court to join the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. "The story of Hammond's close call became legend to other clerks on the court at the time and has been passed down as a cautionary tale over time," Robenalt added."