JANUARY 7, 2011
Ex-CIA Official Charged in Leak on Iran Program
By EVAN PEREZ
Federal authorities arrested a former Central Intelligence Agency official on Thursday, accusing him of leaking classified information to a New York Times reporter who published a book discussing Iran's suspected weapons program.
Jeffrey Sterling, 43 years old, worked at the CIA for nine years and left in 2002 amid a dispute over his attempt to write a memoir and his allegations that he was a victim of racial discrimination at the agency, according to a grand jury indictment filed by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va.
In the months before he left the agency, Mr. Sterling provided information to a reporter related to a classified CIA program that Mr. Sterling previously helped to run, according to the indictment. The information included the identity of a confidential source who had provided information to the CIA as part of the program, the indictment says.
The indictment charges Mr. Sterling with 10 counts, including unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, unauthorized conveyance of government property, obstruction of justice and mail fraud.
An attorney for Mr. Sterling, Ed McMahon, said Mr. Sterling is innocent and will contest the charges.
Mr. Sterling briefly appeared Thursday before a judge in Missouri, was advised of the charges and ordered held pending a detention hearing Monday.
The indictment doesn't identify the reporter or the news organization. A person familiar with the matter said the reporter is James Risen of the New York Times, who wrote a book on the CIA during the George W. Bush administration.
The book included a chapter on a CIA program to disrupt suspected nuclear-weapons programs in Iran and other countries. It raised questions about whether the CIA unwittingly may have aided the Iranian program.
A New York Times spokesman declined to comment.
Much of the information Mr. Sterling provided to Mr. Risen wasn't published in the newspaper, according to the indictment. The indictment describes Mr. Risen, identified as Author A, setting off alarms at the CIA in the spring of 2003 when he allegedly informed a spokesman that he had in his possession government documents related to the agency's program.
Top Bush administration officials met with top officials at the New York Times, identified in the indictment only as a national newspaper, to warn of the danger to national security and to the CIA's source if the Times published an article on the information.
Among the government officials who advised the Times to withhold publication was Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser, according to a person familiar with the matter. Times officials called Ms. Rice in May 2003 to say the newspaper wouldn't publish Mr. Risen's article, according to the person familiar with the matter. Mr. Risen's book, containing the information, was published in 2006.
According to the indictment, Mr. Risen wrote a 2002 article in which he identified Mr. Sterling and described his dispute with the CIA; the article didn't include classified information.
The Times reported last year that Mr. Risen was subpoenaed to appear before an Alexandria federal grand jury to testify about sources for his book. An attorney for Mr. Risen said the subpoena focused on chapter nine of the book, which largely dealt with CIA efforts to thwart the Iranian nuclear program.
Joel Kurtzberg, Mr. Risen's attorney, said Thursday that Mr. Risen wouldn't comment on whether Mr. Sterling was a source for his book. He said that despite the subpoena, "Mr. Risen has not provided any testimony or cooperation with the government in connection with its investigation."
Mr. Risen also co-wrote a 2005 article on a National Security Agency program to carry out eavesdropping with court warrants, later identified by the Bush administration as the Terrorist Surveillance Program. The Justice Department has a continuing leak investigation into sources for that article but no one has been charged.
The latest case is one of several brought in recent months by the Justice Department in long-running leak probes, some begun in the previous administration. "Our national security requires that sensitive information be protected," said Neil H. MacBride, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "Those who handle classified information know the law and must be held accountable when they break it."
Justice Department prosecutors allege Mr. Sterling leaked the information in retaliation for the CIA's refusal to pay him to settle his allegations of racial discrimination. According to the indictment, Mr. Sterling requested payment of as much as $180,000 to settle his claims. The CIA's Equal Employment Office investigated the allegations and told Mr. Sterling it could not verify his claims, according to the indictment.
Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com