skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Whistleblower Faces Years In Prison for Making CIA Look “Dumb And Dangerous”

play audio
Play

Monday, January 26, 2015   

RICHMOND, Va. - A jury has convicted a former CIA case officer of leaking secrets. But many say the reason Jeffrey Sterling could face decades in prison is because he embarrassed the agency.

Sterling was ruled guilty of violating the espionage act for leaking secrets to a reporter for the New York Times. But Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, said CIA officials routinely leak classified documents to make the agency look good. In 2003, Solomon said, Sterling told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee about a botched agency Iranian nuclear operation - – and made the CIA look bad.

"He was a whistleblower," said Solomon. "As much as anything else, that's why the CIA is so eager to put him in prison."

Prosecutors argued that the case is about ensuring the security of American secrets. But Solomon pointed out that at least one important prosecution witness publicly made false claims about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to that invasion.

The trial came at a delicate time for negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. The CIA has been working to slow that program, with mixed success. A dozen years ago, Sterling went to members of Congress with his concerns about a CIA plan to supply flawed nuclear designs to Iran through a Russian engineer.

Sterling told members of the Senate he was worried the Iranians would be able to spot the flaws and use the rest of the designs. Later, the story of the botched CIA operation also showed up in a book by a New York Times reporter James Risen. Solomon says the revelation made the agency look "dumb and dangerous."

"It seems inept and kind of the 'gang that can't shoot straight,'" he says. "Dangerous because the CIA might have even helped Iran if it wanted to, to move towards developing a nuclear weapon."

Solomon said the specific charges that Sterling talked to the press about are entirely circumstantial. The prosecution lacked, as he put it, a "smoking gun." This may be the first time a CIA official has ever faced a jury verdict on criminal charges for talking to the press, said Solomon, adding that a recent Senate investigation into torture found that leaking to the press is standard agency practice.

"The CIA leaking classified information to make itself look good," he said. "Now involved in the prosecution of Jeffery Sterling for allegedly leaking information that made the agency look bad."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021