- Reporter James Risen
The Justice Department and the New York Times have had their fair share of battles in court over testifying.
The latest: Fed prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., have subpoenaed Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter James Risen to testify against a former CIA operative who is awaiting trial, Carrie Johnson of NPR reported.
NPR reported that ex-CIA operative Jeffrey Sterling is accused of leaking classified info which wound up in Risen’s book “State of War.”
The subpoena was filed Monday night in Virginia, NPR reported. The Justice Department court filing calls Risen a “critical” eyewitness. Authorities expect Risen to fight the subpoena.
The government wrote in its motion: “As we describe in the following pages, the Supreme Court has held that absent a showing that a criminal proceeding is being conducted in bad faith or for the purpose of harassment, there exists neither a First Amendment nor a common law reporter’s privilege that shields a reporter from his obligation to testify, even if the reporter’s testimony reveals confidential sources and information.”
“Moreover, the Government is unaware of any case in which a court has excluded from a jury’s consideration the testimony of a reporter who personally witnessed a crime, let alone crimes like the ones charged here that are alleged to have endangered the nation’s security. Accordingly, to resolve this issue as expeditiously as possible, we move for the admission of Mr. Risen’s testimony.”
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