6/4/2014
Is the liberal media finally turning on Obama's press demands? Democracy NOW! sure is acting out of character lately...
In one of the most significant press freedom cases in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has turned down the appeal of a New York Times reporter who faces prison for refusing to reveal a confidential source. James Risen had asked the court to overturn a ruling forcing him to testify in the criminal trial of ex-CIA analyst Jeffrey Sterling. Prosecutors believe Sterling gave Risen information on the CIA’s role in disrupting Iran’s nuclear program. Risen vowed to go to prison rather than testify and was hoping for Supreme Court intervention. But on Monday, the Supreme Court refused to weigh in, effectively siding with the government. The Obama administration must now decide if it will try to force Risen’s testimony and risk sending one of the nation’s most prominent national security journalists to jail. We are joined by two guests: Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation and a columnist at The Guardian; and Matthew Cooper, a veteran Washington correspondent who was held in contempt of court during the Bush administration leak case that led to the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to what could be one of the most significant press freedom cases in decades. The Supreme Court has turned down the appeal of the New York Times reporter who faces prison for refusing to reveal a confidential source. James Risen had asked the court to overturn a ruling forcing him to testify in the criminal trial of ex-CIA analyst Jeffrey Sterling. Prosecutors believe Sterling gave risen information on the CIA’s role in disrupting Iran’s nuclear program. In his book "State of War," Risen showed that instead of hampering Iran’s efforts, theCIA effectively gave Iran a blueprint for designing a bomb. Risen vowed to go to prison rather than testify and was hoping for a Supreme Court intervention. But, on Monday, the Supreme Court refused to weigh in, effectively siding with the government. He said in response, "I will continue to fight." He is no stranger to challenging the White House. In 2005, Risen helped expose the domestic warrantless spy program despite Bush administration efforts to kill the story.
AMY GOODMAN: The Obama administration must now decide if it will force Risen’s testimony and risk sending one of the nations most prominent national security journalists to jail. President Obama has already developed a reputation as the most aggressive in history when it comes to targeting whistleblowers. Obama’s Justice Department has brought eight cases so far, more than all previous administrations combined. For more, we’re joined by two guests, Trevor Timm, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, as well as Matthew Cooper, a reporter for Newsweek. He earned national attention when he refused to name his sources in his reporting on the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent. We turn now to Trevor Timm. Your response to the Supreme Court decision not to hear the case?
TREVOR TIMM: Well, I think it was really disappointing on a number of levels. This decision by the Fourth Circuit before it even got to the Supreme Court was one of the worst press freedom decisions in decades. Not only was the government arguing that James Risen didn’t qualify for reporter’s privilege, they argued that reporter’s privilege do not exist at all. They even went as far to compare journalists protecting sources to journalists receiving drugs and refusing to testify about it. So, It was really disturbing on a number of levels. And The Supreme Court essentially sanctioned the Fourth Circuit ruling, meaning that in the Fourth Circuit which is the home to countless national security sources and national security journalists that reporters have much less protection than they have ever had to report on stories, that as we’ve seen over the past year, are really vital to the public interest. So, hopefully, there are other avenues to continue to protect reporters’ rights and allow them to protect their sources. But, this was definitely a setback.
AMY GOODMAN: Matt Cooper, your response to the Supreme Court decision?
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