Judge Limits Risen's Testimony in CIA Trial

Courthouse News Service
Ryan Abbot

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) - New York Times reporter James Risen, the bestselling author of "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," must testify in the criminal trial of former CIA agent Jeffrey Sterling, but prosecutors may not ask him to reveal his sources, a federal judge ruled.

     U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with Risen's request that his testimony be limited to confirming that he wrote a particular newspaper article or chapter of a book, that statements referred to in his articles and books made by unnamed sources were in fact made by unnamed sources, and that statements made by an identified source were in fact made by the identified source.

     Brinkema's order approved in part Risen's motion to quash a subpoena from the federal government, which sought his testimony in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, who is accused of leaking information to Risen.

     Risen's 2006 best-seller reported numerous and allegations of CIA mismanagement under several presidential administrations.

     The government subpoena sought the names of Risen's confidential sources, specifically for Chapter Nine, which focused on Operation Merlin, a "reportedly botched attempt by the CIA, during the Clinton Administration, to have former Russian scientist pass on fake and intentionally flawed nuclear blueprints to Iran."

     Risen also reported on the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program.

     Those reports, he said, led the Bush Administration to single him out for political harassment.

     "The Bush White House was furious over that story," Risen in a lengthy affidavit attached to his motion to quash.

     A memorandum opinion will be attached to Judge Brinkema's order after a classified information security officer reviews it.

U.S. Government Caught Spying On Journalist Who Revealed CIA Secrets

Politico

By JOSH GERSTEIN

James Risen

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.

The scope and intrusiveness of the government’s efforts to uncover reporter James Risen’s sources surfaced Thursday in the criminal case of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officer facing federal criminal charges for allegedly disclosing classified information. Sterling is accused of giving Risen details about what Risen describes as the CIA’s plan to give Iran faulty nuclear blueprints, hoping to temporarily thwart the regime’s ambitions to build an atomic bomb.

In a motion filed in federal court in Alexandria, Sterling’s defense lawyers, Ed MacMahon Jr. and Barry Pollack, reveal that the prosecution has turned over “various telephone records showing calls made by the author James Risen. It has provided three credit reports—Equifax, TransUnion and Experian—for Mr. Risen. It has produced Mr. Risen’s credit card and bank records and certain records of his airline travel.”

The revelation alarmed First Amendment advocates, particularly in light of Justice Department rules requiring the attorney general to sign off on subpoenas directed to members of the media and on requests for their phone records. And Risen told POLITICO that the disclosures, while not shocking, made him feel “like a target of spying.”

“We’ve argued that I was a victim of harassment by the government. This seems to bolster that,” Risen said. “Maybe I should ask them what my credit score is.”

Sterling’s attorneys and a Justice Department spokeswoman declined POLITICO’s request for comment.

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