The outgoing Attorney General raised eyebrows when answering a question about his Justice Department’s notorious crackdown on leaks, and by extension the press--most notably New York Times reporter James Risen.
The government has just asked the judge in the Jeffrey Sterling whistleblower trial, Leonie Brinkema, to declare James Risen unavailable as a witness.
Lesley Stahl asks Risen if he would ever divulge his source. “No,” Risen answers. “Never?” asks Stahl. Risen: “Never, no.”
Today, a total of 19 Pulitzer Prize winners have issued statements in support of journalist James Risen and in protest of the Justice Department's attempt to force Risen to testify against his sources. — Read the rest
The US State Department announced the launch of its third annual "Free the Press" campaign today, which will purportedly highlight "journalists or media outlets that are censored, attacked, threatened, or otherwise oppressed because of their reporting." A noble mission for sure. — Read the rest
"The Times reporter James Risen took his case to the Supreme Court on Monday, asking that his effort to protect his confidential source be protected," writes NYT Public Editor Margaret Sullivan. "It won't surprise regular readers of this blog that I'm very much on his side, and I fervently hope the court takes on his case and rules strongly in his favor. — Read the rest
My lawyers and I plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take my case.
— James Risen (@JRisen) October 19, 2013
"A federal appeals court will not reconsider a decision compelling a journalist to identify a source who disclosed details of a secret CIA operation," reports the AP:
New York Times reporter James Risen has asked the Justice Department to drop its subpoena in a case involving Jeffrey Sterling, the former CIA agent charged with leaking national security secrets to Risen for his book, "State of War." The NYT has an item here. — Read the rest
New York Times: "Federal prosecutors, with the approval of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., are trying to force the author of a book on the C.I.A. to testify at a criminal trial about who leaked information to him about an effort by the agency to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program at the end of the Clinton administration." — Read the rest
From Politico: "Federal investigators trying to find out who leaked information about a CIA attempt to disrupt Iran's nuclear program obtained a New York Times reporter's three private credit reports, examined his personal bank records and obtained information about his phone calls and travel, according to a new court filing."
An anonymous source claiming to be an Iraqi patriot sent The Intercept leaks of 900 pages' worth of spy-agency cables and memos sent by Iranian spies in Iraq; James Risen (previously) reported them out in a joint project with the New York Times that reveals how the US's post-invasion nation-building failures created a political vacuum that Iran filled, allowing it to dominate the political and tactical landscape in Iraq.
[Matt Potolsky's new book, The National Security Sublime, is a tour through the look-and-feel of mass surveillance, as practiced by the most unlikely of aesthetes: big data authoritarian snoops and the grifter military contractors who wax fat on them. This is a subject dear to my heart. — Read the rest
All the phone companies helped the NSA commit mass surveillance, but the agency singled out Ma Bell as "highly collaborative" with an "extreme willingness to help."
For the first time since his indictment in December 2010, Jeffrey Sterling's voice can now be heard in a short documentary film, released today.
Jeffrey Sterling, a lawyer and former CIA agent convicted of sharing classified information with New York Times reporter James Risen, was sentenced today to three and a half years in prison. — Read the rest
The lenient sentence he received for leaking classified info to his biographer-lover reveals how extreme the double standard of U.S. justice is for the handling of classified information.
At the same time as David Petraeus got off with probation and a fine, the Justice Department has been pushing for extreme jail time for other leakers who talk to journalists—often over leaks of far less sensitive material.
Dan Froomkin at The Intercept on the fate of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling, who was convicted of espionage this week for talking to New York Times Reporter James Risen:
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling has been convicted of all 9 counts in a case that charged him with leaking classified information about a failed operation to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions to New York Times reporter James Risen.
After a week of ominous language about the dangers of leaking classified documents, the 14 jurors in the Jeffrey Sterling trial Tuesday got their first look at purportedly classified documents.
