Defiant on Witness Stand, Times Reporter Says Little

New York Times ^ | January 5, 2015 | By MATT APUZZO

[Brad from Tennessee]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — After losing a seven-year legal battle, James Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, reluctantly took the witness stand in federal court here on Monday, but refused to answer any questions that could help the Justice Department identify his confidential sources.

Mr. Risen said he would not say anything to help prosecutors bolster their case against Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former C.I.A. officer who is set to go on trial soon on charges of providing classified information to Mr. Risen for his 2006 book, “State of War.”

The Justice Department first subpoenaed Mr. Risen to testify in the case against Mr. Sterling in 2008, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. authorized the subpoena again in 2011. The attempt to force Mr. Risen to disclose his sources has come to symbolize the Obama administration’s crackdown on government officials who talk to reporters about national security matters. . .

[BwanaNdege]

Did the NYT include a photo of the noble Mr. Risen, chin lifted, gazing into the distant future where his work will be truly appreciated?

Perhaps he was mounted astride a rampaging charger, sword drawn, as he fought the minions of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?

[a fool in paradise]

“I am not going to provide the government with information that they seem to want to use to create a mosaic to prove or disprove certain facts,” he said.

So is he invoking the 5th and then making statements to the contrary?

[a fool in paradise]

He said that the governmentBarack Obama was less likely to prosecute leaks of classified information that made the government Obama look good, such as the successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

There, I fixed it.

The Obama administration is targeting the Navy Seal who talked. Stole his thunder.

[jayrunner]

Obama’s bragging about Seal Team Six killing Bin Laden lead to the killing of 23 members of Seal Team Six a few months after the raid.

Loose Lips Sink Ships!!!!

[piasa]

“The intercept program has uncovered al Qaida plots, and public exposure cripples it, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden said at a news conference Monday. Now deputy director of National Intelligence, Hayden was head of the NSA went the intercept program was started.

Among the plots uncovered was one by Iyman Faris, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Ohio, to blow up the Brooklyn bridge, sources say. Faris discussed the plan on the phone with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, then al Qaida’s operations officer.”

-———————The Valerie Plame Precedent, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1545198/posts