CIA Agent Charged with Leaking
The AP reports:
A former CIA officer has been indicted on charges of disclosing national security secrets after being accused of leaking classified information about Iran to a New York Times reporter.
Federal prosecutors charged Jeffrey Sterling with 10 counts related to improperly keeping and disclosing national security information.
The indictment did not say specifically what was leaked but, from the dates and other details, it was clear that the case centered on leaks to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Risen for his 2006 book, "State of War." The book revealed details about the CIA's covert spy war with Iran.
Sterling, of O'Fallon, Mo., was arrested Thursday and appeared in federal court in St. Louis later in the day. U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry I. Adelman told him he would be detained through the weekend because the government had declared him a danger to the community. Another detention hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.
Sterling served on the Iranian desk at the CIA and handled Iranian spies who had defected to the United States. In the book, Risen detailed how a CIA officer mistakenly revealed the CIA's network in Iran.
Iranian security officials were able to "roll up" the CIA's agent network in the country.
The Justice Department had twice subpoenaed Risen to force him to reveal his sources but he refused. After the book was published in 2006, the FBI focused on Sterling whom Risen had written about in 2003 for the newspaper.
Click here to read more.
