DOJ recently ordered reporter James Risen to testify against one of his confidential sources who reportedly leaked classified information about the CIA in 2006. Risen says he’d go to jail before outing his sources.

DOJ recently ordered reporter James Risen to testify against one of his confidential sources who reportedly leaked classified information about the CIA in 2006.the government while unduly trampling those of the press, and in doing so, severely impinges on the press and the free flow of information in our society.”

Risen says he’d go to jail before outing his sources. Risen and Eric Lichtblau were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2006 for a series of controversial investigative reports that they co-wrote about the National Security Agency's surveillance of international communications originating or terminating in the United States codenamed "Stellar Wind" and about a government program called Terrorist Finance Tracking Program designed to detect terrorist financiers, which involved searches of money transfer records in the international SWIFT database. The Associated Press reported on May 24, 2011 that Risen is being called as a witness in the Jeffrey Sterling trial for alleged leaks of classified information. Risen is the author of the book State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration (January 2006). The book makes numerous statements about Central Intelligence Agency activities. It states that the CIA carried out an operation in 2000 (Operation Merlin) intended to delay Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program by feeding it flawed blueprints for key missing components - which backfired and may actually have aided Iran, as the flaw was likely detected and corrected by a former Soviet nuclear scientist the operation used to make the delivery.

While doing research for the book, Risen's email and phone connections with former CIA Operations Officer Jeffrey Alexander Sterling were monitored by the US federal government. The US federal government also obtained Risen's credit and bank records. The CIA Public Affairs Office issued a press release indicating that Risen's book contains serious errors in every chapter.

Risen writes in State of War that, "Several of the Iranian [CIA] agents were arrested and jailed, while the fate of some of the others is still unknown", after a CIA official in 2004 sent an Iranian agent an encrypted electronic message, mistakenly including data that could potentially identify "virtually every spy the CIA had inside Iran". The Iranian was a double agent and handed over the information to Iranian intelligence. This also has been denied by an intelligence official. Risen also alleges that the Bush Administration is responsible for the transformation of Afghanistan into a "narco-state", that provides a purported 80% of the world's heroin supply.

The publication of this book was expedited following the December 16, 2005 NSA leak story. The timing of The New York Times story after the Iraq election in mid December 2005 is a source of controversy since the story was delayed for over a year. The New York Times story appeared two days before a former NSA employee, dismissed in May 2005, requested permission to testify to two Congressional intelligence oversight committees. Byron Calame, the Public Editor of The New York Times, wrote in early January 2006 that two senior Times officials refused to comment on the timing of the article. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also conducted an investigation of the sources of the security leak involving the NSA. Risen says this book is based on information from a variety of anonymous sources, that he would protect.

The issue of journalists protecting their anonymous sources was widely discussed during this time period due to the Valerie Plame affair. In that case, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to reveal a source for a story of hers. The Attorney General hinted in a Washington Post article on May 22, 2006 that journalists may be charged for any disclosure of classified national security information. President George W. Bush, in a June 25, 2006 news conference, was critical of the publication of information of classified programs by the New York Times.

United States v. Sterling

Jeffrey Alexander Sterling was being investigated during the Bush administration. In 2010 he was indicted under the Espionage Act of 1917, one of the few people in US history whose alleged contact with a journalist was punished under espionage law.

Risen was subpoenaed in relation to the case in 2008. He fought the subpoena, and it expired in the summer of 2009. In what the New York Times called "a rare step," the Obama administration renewed the subpoena in 2010. In 2011 Risen wrote a detailed response to the subpoena, describing his reasons for refusing to reveal his sources, the public impact of his work, and his experiences with the Bush administration.

In July 2013 US Court of Appeals from the Fourth Circuit ruled that Risen must testify in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling. The court wrote “so long as the subpoena is issued in good faith and is based on a legitimate need of law enforcement, the government need not make any special showing to obtain evidence of criminal conduct from a reporter in a criminal proceeding.” Judge Roger Gregory dissented, writing “The majority exalts the interests of the government while unduly trampling those of the press, and in doing so, severely impinges on the press and the free flow of information in our society.”

The US government stance has been criticized as infringing upon freedom of the press.

The Supreme Court rejected his appeal during June 2014, leaving Risen facing the possibility of jail depending upon whether the federal prosecutors choose to pursue his testimony. He has stated that he will continue to refuse.

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2. Jump up^ JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU (December 16, 2005). "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts". The New York Times.
3. Jump up^ Isikoff, Michael (2011-01-06). "Ex-CIA Officer Charged with Leak to Reporter". NBC New York. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
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6. Jump up^ Josh Gerstein. "Feds spy on reporter in leak probe - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com". politico.com. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
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10. Jump up^ Russell Boyce, Court rules journalists can’t keep their sources secret, Reuters, July 19, 2013.
11. Jump up^ United States v. Sterling Ruling, Legal Times, p. 112
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15. Jump up^ DAVID JOHNSTON and JAMES RISEN (December 11, 1999). "THE LOS ALAMOS SECRETS CASE: THE OVERVIEW; Nuclear Weapons Engineer Indicted in Removal of Data". The New York Times.
16. Jump up^ MATTHEW PURDY (February 4, 2001). "The Making of a Suspect: The Case of Wen Ho Lee". The New York Times.
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19. Jump up^ My Country Versus Me, Wen Ho Lee and Helen Zia, 129-132
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21. Jump up^ ADAM LIPTAK (June 3, 2006). "News Media Pay in Scientist Suit". The New York Times.
22. Jump up^ http://www.colby.edu/news/2014/08/08/lovejoy-award-goes-to-james-risen-reporter-and-author-facing-possible-jail-time/