You will recall this is the case where the government tried for seven years to force New York Times reporter James Risen to testify against Sterling, his source.
[Obama] declared on his first full day in office [...]”Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but those who seek to make it known.”
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Far from rejecting the authoritarian bent of his presidential predecessor, Obama has simply adjusted it, adding his own personal touches, most notably an enthusiasm for criminally prosecuting the kinds of leaks that are essential to a free press.
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Monday’s guilty verdict in the trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling on espionage charges — for talking to a newspaper reporter — is the latest milepost.
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You won’t get in trouble as long as you do what you’re told (even torture people). But if you talk to a reporter and tell him something we [the USG] want kept secret, we will spare no effort to destroy you.
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By contrast, neither Obama nor Holder ever seriously contemplated any kind of prosecution or accountability for the application of torture – a heinous assault on human rights – that was rampant during the Bush era.
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Looking ahead to 2016, the prospects are grim. None of the major candidates for president have said anything half as powerful about openness, transparency and accountability as Obama did. And look where that got us.
Dan Froomkin
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.Prosecutors said Sterling disclosed the mission to journalist James Risen to get back at the CIA for perceived mistreatment.
Sterling was the handler for a Russian-born CIA asset nicknamed Merlin, who was at the center of an operation to funnel deliberately flawed nuclear-weapons blueprints to the Iranians.
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Sterling denied leaking anything to Risen, and said it was more likely Risen learned about the mission from Senate staffers who had been briefed on it.
HuffPo
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