14 DAY TRIAL // A 43-year-old ex-CIA officer was arrested yesterday under accusations of disclosing classified national defense information to a journalist.
Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, of O’Fallon, Missouri, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency from May 1993 to January 2002, during which time he participated in a clandestine operation to obtain intelligence about the weapons of a foreign country.
The country or the journalist are not named in the 10-count indictment, which includes charges of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, unlawful retention of national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstruction of justice.
It is, however, noted that the information Sterling disclosed was included in an article that was eventually published by the newspaper where the journalist works, as well as a book that he later wrote and released.
Based on these details it wasn't very hard for people to link the case to Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times journalist James Risen and his 2006 book "State of War," which reveals details about a CIA spy op in Iran.
The New York Times is said to have canceled the publication of a 2003 article written by Risen on the subject after the government expressed concern over the well being of a CIA human asset in Iran, who was handled by Sterling prior to 2000.
The government claims that Sterling, who now works as a lawyer, leaked the information to get back at the CIA after the agency refused to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit he filed and later did not approve the publication of his memoirs.
The complaint also claims that he stole classified documents and kept them without authorization and that he deleted evidence when learning that he is the subject of a grand jury investigation.
The New York Times reports that Sterling's lawyer declared his innocence and that Mr. Risen's legal representative denied his client's cooperation with the authorities in this investigation.