Free Republic

by Mark Finkelstein January 3, 2006 - 07:58 Katie Couric's just-completed interview with NY Times Reporter James Risen, who broke the NSA surveillance story and is now publishing his book on the matter, 'State of War,' offered a treasure-trove of insights into the matter. And give Katie a gentlelady's 'C' for her questioning. Couric earned the bulk of her credit by posing this seminal line of questioning: "Did [the leakers] have any sympathy or understanding about this new climate this country finds itself in and the criticism the Bush administration took prior to 9/11 for not putting the pieces together...

New York Times reporter James Risen is facing prison if he doesn’t reveal sources that gave him highly classified information on U.S. intelligence in Iran. Gabriel Schoenfeld says no reporter is above the law.

A New York Times reporter will be subpoenaed to answer questions ahead of an upcoming trial of a former CIA officer accused of leaking classified information, though a Tuesday hearing indicated there is much confusion about what the journalist may be asked to reveal. Prosecutors say they will not ask James Risen if ex-CIA man Jeffrey Sterling was his anonymous source for part of the 2006 book “State Of War” that detailed a botched CIA effort to cripple Iran’s nuclear program. However, they do want to know if the two had a prior, on-the-record source relationship. Risen’s lawyer, Joel Kurtzberg,...

Former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice told jurors Thursday she was stunned to learn that a classified mission to thwart Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions—now at the heart of a criminal leak trial—had been disclosed to a reporter. Rice testified for the prosecution in U.S. District Court at the trial of ex-CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, 47, of O’Fallon, Missouri, who is charged with illegally disclosing details of the program to New York Times reporter James Risen. Sterling denies leaking any information to Risen. While Rice’s testimony helped establish the importance of the classified program in question, her testimony did not implicate...

Donald Sterling's former assistant claims she never had sex with the billionaire bigot because he’s homosexual — and she was his beard. V. Stiviano made the bombshell allegation in court paperwork filed Thursday as an answer to a prior lawsuit filed by Sterling’s wife, Shelly Sterling, a source told the Daily News.

Donald Sterling railed on the witness stand Tuesday against the doctors who deemed him mentally incompetent, the executives who bounced him out of the NBA and the opposing lawyer who struggled to get him to answer a question. Sterling was consistently combative during his hourlong testimony that came as he fights to keep ownership of the Clippers. He briefly cried when he professed his devotion to his wife, Shelly. He predicted he would win a $9-billion judgment in an antitrust case he filed against the pro basketball league and would one day sell the team for as much as $5...

Shelly Sterling's potentially record-breaking deal with Ballmer was struck after Donald Sterling's racist remarks to a girlfriend were recorded and publicized.In this Nov. 12, 2010, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling, right, sits with his wife Rochelle during the Clippers NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Los Angeles. Shelly Sterling's attorneys will ask a judge Thursday to order Donald Sterling and his attorneys to stop threatening, harassing or intimidating his wife's legal team and the doctors who determined the Los Angeles Clippers' co-owner was mentally incapacitated. A person with knowledge of the legal proceedings told...

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has pulled his support from a deal to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and will pursue his $1 billion federal lawsuit against the NBA, his attorney said Monday. "We have been instructed to prosecute the lawsuit," said attorney Maxwell Blecher. He said co-owner Donald Sterling would not be signing off on the deal to sell.

L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling seems to be sitting pretty. Sure, he endured bad press and probably would not have sold the team were it not for the NBA action. He may not even get to do his own negotiating, since the NBA stepped in. But a $2 billion sale to Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer isn’t half bad. Still, taxes could eat a big piece of his outsize profit. With these high numbers and Sterling’s advanced age, income and estate taxes look bleak, but are they? First, let’s take income tax. Mr. Sterling only paid $12.5 million for the Clippers in...

Donald Sterling officially announced Wednesday that he, the NBA and his estranged wife Shelly have agreed to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion and various additional benefits, Sterling's lawyer told NBC News. All disputes and outstanding issues have been resolved, and the $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA Sterling filed last week has been dropped, Sterling's lawyer Bobby Samini told NBC News exclusively. Sterling told NBC4 in an exclusive interview on Tuesday he was ready to "move on" from the team. "I feel fabulous, I feel very good. Everything is just the way it should...

So they said on TV today that Donald Sterling is suffering from dementia and had diminished cognitive abilities. Doesn't this mean that he is a sick and cannot comprehend what is currently happening with his situation. So lets break it down: a mentally handicapped person is secretly taped making statements that he may or may not understand and goes on TV and does the same. Shouldn't the concern be with his health and mental well-being. If he was a drug addict or alcoholic (ok, lets face it, and not white), that's what the media would be focusing on. I feel...

The U.S. stock market is trading at all-time highs, the yields on U.S. government bonds are at eye-popping lows and the nation’s professional basketball teams are selling for more than most observers previously thought possible. That the U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter of the year is the disturbing backdrop for this stunning surge in asset prices—call it the basketball bubble. Forbes first reported early on Thursday that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had submitted a $1.8 billion bid for the Los Angeles Clippers and that the team could go for $2 billion before all was said and done....

I imagine Donald Sterling is going to fight this one too, but… Shelly Sterling has been granted the authority to sell the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer because her husband and co-owner Donald Sterling has been declared mentally incapacitated under the terms of the trust the couple owns the team through. That made her the sole trustee and decision maker. That according to the tapped in Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. There have been reports and rumors that Donald Sterling has been battling dementia, which is the reason his former mistress claimed to make the recordings that sparked the...

Let's say tha someone owned a chain of hotels (be they whatever number of stars), and this individual was caught on tape uttering a string of racial expletives. Let's say furthermore that this individual had signed a contract that if they were to ever bring harm to the company or impugn its name, that within the contract clause for owners this individual could be forced to sell. That I could see and understand. But let's say that this individual sold his string of fancy hotels, and later wanted to rent a room in a hotel that was far away from...

The billionaire bigot allegedly surrendered ownership to his estranged wife, Shelly, so she could negotiate a better sale of the NBA team.In a shocking development, disgraced L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling has agreed to sell the team. The 80-year-old billionaire has agreed to allow his wife, Shelly, negotiate a deal with a buyer, sources said. The NBA has yet to formally accept the arrangement, but if does the arrangement will avoid what was expected to be a long, messy legal battle. Sterling made the decision because he felt if he remained in control, NBA officials would force an involuntary sale...

Secretary of State John Kerry told a private audience in April that US ally Israel may wind up becoming an aparthed state. So it’s OK to bash the Jewish state.But Kerry joked about Donald Sterling this weekend in his address to Yale graduates.CNN reported: Secretary of State John Kerry slammed Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in address to graduates at Yale University on Sunday.“You are graduating today as the most diverse class in Yale’s long history,” he said. “Or as they call it in the NBA, Donald Sterling’s worst nightmare.”Kerry made his remarks as the featured speaker at Yale’s...

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has sent a letter to the National Basketball Association telling the league he won't pay his $2.5 million fine and rejecting his lifetime ban, according to multiple media reports.

A letter from Donald Sterling’s lawyer reveals that the Los Angeles Clippers owner is refusing to pay the $2.5 million fine levied against him by the NBA. USA Today reports that his attorney, Maxwell M. Blecher, wrote in a letter to the NBA that Sterling has no intention of paying the fine. Moreover, the letter argues Sterling doesn’t deserve "any punishment at all" for his racist remarks that were made public last month. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is currently working to force Sterling out of the NBA.

Shelly Sterling defended her right to hold onto her stake in the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, telling NBC’s Savannah Guthrie it's sexist for the NBA to punish her for the actions of her husband, who she claimed suffers from dementia. The Clippers have been operating under a cloud in the weeks since the celebrity website TMZ released an audio recording in which Donald Sterling, 80, told frequent court-side guest V. Stiviano that he did not want to see her at games with black people. Days later, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million, banned him for life from...

as her 'lengthy rap sheet' is revealedV. Stiviano, the woman at the center of the Donald Sterling racism scandal is allegedly being investigated for allegedly extorting the embattled LA Clippers owner by demanding money to keep more audio recordings secret. A senior official with the LA County DA's Bureau of Investigation contacted Donald Sterling's wife Rochelle on Tuesday asking to interview her in connection with alleged blackmail, a report has claimed. The investigation is said to be focusing on Stiviano's claims to have more than 100 hours of recordings of conversations between her and Sterling and whether the disgraced billionaire...