Ex-CIA Officer Charged With Leak to Times Reporter

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Ex-CIA officer charged with leak to Times reporter

By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press
Thursday, January 6, 2011

(01-06) 11:16 PST WASHINGTON, CA (AP) --

A former CIA officer is under indictment, accused of leaking classified information about Iran to a New York Times reporter.

Federal prosecutors charged Jeffrey Sterling with 10 counts related to improperly keeping and disclosing national security information.

The Justice Department does not say specifically what was leaked but, from the dates and other details, it is clear that case centers on leaks to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Risen for his 2006 book, "State of War." The book revealed details about the CIA's covert spy war with Iran.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/06/state/n111639S69.DTL

[Kingofalldems]

1. And the Bush crowd gets away with it.

[karynnj]

2. True - especially as it was leaked in 2004 - and the Times reported on it in 2005

In between was an election lost by 59,000 votes in Ohio - after serious voter suppression.

[leveymg]

3. Here's an '05 article about him - sued the Agency over alleged race discrimination; courts

slapped a State Secrets gag on him and spiked his case. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=344x13

Looks like he went to Risen at The Times with what he knew about the Valerie Plame case and Iraq/Iran WMD frauds at about that time.

Here's his bio. Worked on the Iran Task Force from mid-1990s until 2001: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20137092,00.html

Sterling joined the CIA in 1993 and two years later became a case officer in the Iran Task Force. (He was the only black among its more than 20 professionals.) To prepare, he spent a year studying Farsi, the language of Iran. Sent to Bonn in 1997 to recruit Iranians as agents, he grew frustrated when he wasn't given new prospects to recruit. Perplexed, he returned to Langley and confronted his supervisors. "I asked why I wasn't receiving any assignments. They said, "Well, you kind of stick out as a big black guy,'" Sterling recalls. "They said, 'You bring unwanted attention to where you're assigned.' Everyone in management agreed I was too conspicuous. And I said, 'Well, when did you realize that I was black?'"

He returned to work at the agency's Langley headquarters, then in 1999 moved to the New York City CIA office, again assigned to recruit Iranians. Though supervisors gave him a good evaluation that September, they soon complained that he was not finding enough spies. When the office gave him orders to recruit at least three contacts in two months—an unusually high quota, say CIA insiders—he became more angry. "I said, 'You are setting me up to fail,'" says Sterling.

In April of 2000 Sterling complained to the agency's Equal Employment Opportunity office. That, he says, only brought more difficulties, including a security evaluation that he says was sooner than standard. He says he applied for several overseas postings but was turned down. Told to return to the Iran Task Force, he refused. "That office said I was too big and black," he says. "Why would I want to go back there?" The agency placed him on administrative leave in March 2001. Frustrated, he filed suit in U.S. district court in New York City on Aug. 28, 2001. Two months later he was fired. Says Sterling: "The deck was stacked against me."

[Bragi]

4. I wonder where the in-house law and order crowd are?

Surely the same people here who want Assange put in Supermx will want to see James Risen put in leg irons for conspiracy to commit espionage.

Risen met with the guy and interviewed him to facilitate his illegal act, so how's is that anything other than a low tech version of what Wikileaks does?

[Bragi]

5. Odd that there's no NY Times article on this /nt

[Javaman]

6. Will James Risen now be brought up on a set of contrived charges? nt

[Downwinder]

10. Someone should warn to beware Scandinavian blonds

trying to seduce him.

[glinda]

7. Putting fear into our lives thanks to our Government.

[harvey007]

8. Another reason why we need groups like Wikileaks

Secrecy is the enemy of democracy.

[pacalo]

9. "We'll punish anyone who provides any documentation proving Bush broke the law!"

[Hissyspit]

11. Good Analysis from Marcy Wheeler:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2011/01/06/did-nyts-editors-alert-the-government-to-risens-source

[Peace Patriot]

12. K&R! nt

[buckrogers1965]

13. There should be amnesty given to whistle blowers.

If what they reveal is evidence of a crime, then they should be completely pardoned of all offenses related to revealing the crimes.