Feds won't put NY Times reporter on stand in CIA-leak case; judge nixes request to bar his testimony
Updated: A New York Times reporter has won a nearly seven-year legal battle with the feds over whether he can be forced to testify at the criminal trial of an alleged source.
The government will not only avoid calling James Risen as a witness but unsuccessfully sought a court order to prevent him from testifying for the defense, according to the Associated Press and the Washington Post (reg. req.).
Risen’s claimed source, former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, goes on trial Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Sterling is accused in the Eastern District of Virginia case of leaking classified information to Risen about a botched CIA operation that sought to provide false nuclear weapon development data to Iran.
In a Monday filing, prosecutors said they don’t intend to use Risen as a witness and asked the court to bar the defense from calling him or commenting on his failure to testify, the Post reports. The government also is seeking a court instruction that the jury “should draw no inferences as to either the government or the defense based on Mr. Risen’s absence as a witness or any testimony he might have provided.”
At a Monday pretrial hearing, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema nixed the government’s request to bar Risen from testifying, the AP article says, but Brinkema hasn’t yet ruled on the jury instruction.
Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) and Politico also have stories.
A Federation of American Scientists page provides links to filings in the Sterling case.
Related coverage:
The Nation: “The Government War Against Reporter James Risen”
Updated at 5 p.m. to substitute extended lengthier version of Associated Press story with additional information and include details of judge’s ruling.
