Politics

Ex-CIA Officer Convicted of Leaking Secrets to Reporter

Published

9 years ago

January 27, 2015

Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, second from left, leaves the Alexandria Federal Courthouse Monday, Jan. 26, 2015, in Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Holly, second from right, attorney Barry Pollack, right, and attorney Edward MacMahon, after he was convicted on all nine counts he faced of leaking classified details of an operation to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions to a New York Times reporter. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — For years, ex-CIA case officer Jeffrey Sterling was the one under indictment but prosecutors’ primary focus of pursuit was journalist Jeffrey Risen.

Prosecutors believed Sterling leaked details to Risen about one of the government’s most closely held secrets: a secret CIA mission to derail Iran’s nuclear ambitions by giving them deliberately flawed blueprints.

Risen, though, wouldn’t divulge his sources. Prosecutors sought court orders forcing Risen to testify, saying their job would be immeasurably more difficult without his testimony.

Ultimately, though, prosecutors won their case without Risen. On Monday, Sterling was convicted in federal court on all nine charges he faced after a two-week trial in which Risen never made an appearance.

Experts said the trial shows the government can pursue leak investigations without relying on recalcitrant reporters.

At issue in the two-week trial: Who told Risen about the mission, one that former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice testified was one of America’s best chances to derail Iran’s nuclear-weapons ambitions?

The case was delayed for years as prosecutors fought to force Risen to divulge his sources. Risen eventually lost his legal battle to quash a government subpoena. But prosecutors ultimately decided not to call him to testify after the Justice Department, bowing to pressure from free-press advocates, promised it would not ask Risen sensitive questions about his sources.

Lacking Risen’s testimony, prosecutors acknowledged a lack of direct evidence against Sterling, 47, of O’Fallon, Missouri, but said the circumstantial evidence against him was overwhelming.

Defense lawyers had said the evidence showed that Capitol Hill staffers who had been briefed on the classified operation were more likely the source of the leak.

Following the verdict, defense lawyer Edward MacMahon said he was disappointed, but “we still believe in Jeffrey’s innocence.” Sterling will have the option to appeal his case after he is sentenced in April. Motions to dismiss the case on various legal grounds are also still pending in front of the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema.

Lucy Dalglish, dean of the University of Maryland’s journalism school and former director of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, said she was not surprised by the verdict, which followed days of testimony from CIA officials who testified without revealing their last names and from behind a gray screen that shielded their faces from the public. She called it groundbreaking in the sense that it showed how prosecutors are willing to pursue such cases without reporters’ cooperation.

“They’re going to use this case to terrify federal employees. They’re going to use this case to teach the intelligence community a lesson” about the consequences of leaks, she said.

The Obama administration has brought more leak cases than all of his predecessors combined. U.S. Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, who leaked more than 700,000 secret military and diplomatic documents to the WikiLeaks website, was convicted at a military trial and sentenced to military prison.

Other cases were resolved before trial. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison for disclosing to a reporter the name of an undercover agency officer. Thomas Drake, who worked for the National Security Agency, disclosed government waste and fraud to a reporter. He pleaded guilty to a minor charge and did not receive prison time.

A former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, was charged with leaking to journalists but received asylum in Russia.

Going back earlier, Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin received a 12-year sentence after a guilty plea for leaking classified information to a reporter and two pro-Israel Lobbyists, though his sentence was later reduced significantly.

The classified operation at the heart of the Sterling trial involved using a CIA asset nicknamed Merlin, who had been a Russian nuclear engineer, to foist deliberately flawed nuclear-weapons blueprints on the Iranians, hoping they would spend years trying to develop parts that had no hope of ever working.

Risen’s 2006 book, “State of War,” describes the mission as hopelessly botched. Throughout the trial, though, numerous CIA officers testified they had deemed the program a success, even though the Iranians never followed up with Merlin to get additional blueprints he had offered to them as part of the ruse.

Prosecutors argued to the jury that the relevant chapter of Risen’s book seemed to be clearly written from Sterling’s perspective as Merlin’s case handler. The book describes the handler’s misgivings about the operation while others at the CIA pushed the plan through despite its risks.

Furthermore, Sterling believed he had been mistreated and was angry that the agency refused to settle his racial-discrimination complaint, prosecutors said.

And jurors were given phone and email records showing dozens of interactions between Sterling and Risen.

But defense lawyers said the government had no evidence that Risen and Sterling talked about anything classified in those phone calls and emails. The government failed to obtain Risen’s records to see who else he may have contacted.

Defense attorney Barry Pollack said Risen first got wind of the operation in early 2003, within weeks of Sterling reporting his misgivings to staffers at a Senate intelligence committee — a channel Sterling was legally allowed to pursue. Pollack said it makes more sense that a Capitol Hill staffer leaked to Risen.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Dana Boente, in a written statement, described Sterling as “a disgruntled former CIA employee” and said the leak “was illegal and went against Mr. Sterling’s professional commitments to the CIA.”

“Mr. Sterling’s vindictive and careless choices ultimately led us here today and to this unanimous verdict.”

Risen did not return a call and email seeking comment.

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Community

Financial Assistance Bill for Descendants of Enslaved Persons to Help Them Purchase, Own, or Maintain a Home

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento. Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). Photo Courtesy of L.A. Sentinel

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento.

Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

The Senate Housing Committee advanced the bill with an 8-1 vote. It will be re-referred to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) was the only member who voted against the bill.

“SB 1007 is about starting a long process of paying back a debt that is not only owed, but that was also promised, and is 160 years overdue, to African Americans,” Bradford told the committee chaired by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). “It is the first step in closing the wealth and equity gap created by centuries of slavery and racial discrimination policies.”

The bill aligns with one of the 115 recommendations listed in a two-year study conducted by the California reparations task force, of which Bradford was one of nine members.

Bradford said the report reveals that, in the state of California, a typical Black-owned home is 22% less valuable than a White-owned home.

Various advocacy groups from around the state attended the hearing held at the State Capitol Annex Swing Space. The California Housing Partnership, Bay Area Regional Health and Inequities Initiative, Coalition for A Just and Equitable California, Disability Rights of California, the American Civil Liberties Union of California, and California Community Builders all voiced their support of the bill.

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AG Bonta Says Oakland School Leaders Should Comply with State Laws to Avoid ‘Disparate Harm’ When Closing or Merging Schools

California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter this week to the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Board of Education saying the district has a duty to comply with state education and civil rights laws to protect students and families from “disparate harm,” such as segregation and discrimination, if the district goes ahead with school closures, mergers or consolidations in 2025-2026.

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

Teachers and students protest the closing of schools in Oakland. Photo courtesy of PBS.

AG Bonta said DOJ investigation of 2022 closure decisions would have negatively impacted Black and low-income families.

By Post Staff

The letter and an accompanying media release announced the findings of the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into the OUSD Board’s Feb. 8, 2022, decision to close Parker Elementary, Brookfield Elementary, Carl B. Munck Elementary, Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy, Grass Valley Elementary, Horace Mann Elementary, and Community Day School and eliminate grades 6-8 of Hillcrest Elementary and La Escuelita Elementary.

“All school districts and their leadership have a legal obligation to protect vulnerable children and their communities from disparate harm when making school closure decisions,” said Attorney General Bonta.

“The bottom line is that discrimination in any form will not be tolerated,” he said. “I am committed to working with OUSD’s leadership to achieve successful outcomes for students.

“My office will continue to monitor OUSD’s processes and decision-making as it moves forward with the required community engagement, equity impact analysis, and planning to implement any future closures, mergers, or consolidations” to ensure compliance with California’s Constitution, AB 1912, and anti-discrimination laws.

By press time, the school district did not respond to a request for comment from OUSD.

The DOJ’s findings showed that the February 2022 decision, later partially rescinded, would have disproportionately impacted Black and low-income elementary students, as well as high-need students with disabilities, according to the media release.

The Attorney General outlined concerns about criteria OUSD has announced that it may rely on to determine future closures, mergers, and consolidations and provided recommendations to ensure OUSD does not violate state law, including prohibitions against closure decisions that reinforce school segregation or disproportionately impact any student group as required by the State Constitution, AB 1912, and anti-discrimination laws.

According to AB 1912, passed in September 2022, financially distressed school districts contemplating school closures, mergers, or consolidations must engage the community before closing schools; conduct an equity impact assessment; and provide the public with the set of criteria the district plans to utilize to make decisions.

In the letter, DOJ identified a “problematic” approach to planning for closing schools in 2025-2026 and “strongly recommends” steps OUSD should take going forward.

“Take affirmative steps to ensure that its enrollment and attendance boundary and school closure decisions alleviate school segregation and do not create disproportionate transportation burdens for protected subgroups.”
Don’t solely utilize criteria such as school facilities’ conditions, school operating costs, and school capacity without also including an assessment of past and present inequities in resources “due to educational segregation or other causes.”
Some of OUSD’s proposed guidelines “may improperly penalize schools serving students with disabilities and students who have high needs.”
The district’s decisions should also include “environmental factors, student demographics and feeder attendance patterns, transportation needs, and special programs.”
Avoid overreliance on test scores and other quantitative data without also looking at “how each school is serving the needs of its specific student body, especially as it relates to historically marginalized communities.”
“Engage an independent expert to facilitate community input and equity impact.”

The letter also emphasized that DOJ is willing to provide “feedback and consultation at any time during the process to ensure that OUSD’s process and outcomes are legally compliant and serve the best interests of the school community and all of its students.”