How Congress Secretly Just Legitimized Questionable NSA Mass Surveillance Tool

Eric Holder Blinks: Won't Force Reporter James Risen To Reveal Source (Or Send Him To Jail)

from the could-have-done-that-a-while-ago dept

Fri, Dec 12th 2014 6:19pm — Mike Masnick

As we noted last month, the feds have started gearing up to try to force reporter James Risen to reveal his source on some CIA reporting from a few years ago. Risen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, has been facing this threat for years. He's made a compelling case that the whole thing was just to punish him for his reporting. The DOJ had no need for Risen to reveal his source (the DOJ basically knows who it is) and the whole thing is over a really minor issue. It really seemed like the whole thing was set up to see if they could force Risen to cough up the name to guarantee that future whistleblowers wouldn't be able to trust Risen any more.

Well, that backfired big time.

Earlier this week, the judge in the case told the DOJ that it had one week to decide if it was going to call Risen as a witness:

Since June 2,2014, the United States has had over six months to decide whether it will subpoena James Risen to testify at this trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday, January 12, 2015. Because Mr. Risen's presence or absence at the trial will have a significant impact on how the parties present their case, a decision about Mr. Risen must be made sufficiently before trial to enable the parties to prepare adequately.

Combine that with Eric Holder's repeated promise that he wouldn't put a reporter in jail (with the ridiculous loophole that depended on whether Holder decided that reporter was "doing his job" or doing something that Holder decided was not, in fact, "his job") and it should come as little surprise that Holder has now blinked and said that the DOJ will not force Risen to reveal his source. Instead, the DOJ says that if they ask Risen to testify, it'll solely be to "confirm that he had an agreement with a confidential source, and that he did write the book."

It's great that the DOJ is basically no longer threatening Risen with jail, but there is no reason at all that it had to wait so many years and go right down to the judge-imposed wire. Instead, the DOJ let Risen dangle for many years with the threat that he might have to go to jail to protect a source. That's ridiculous and a shameful abuse of power to intimidate a great journalist.

Of course, there's one upside for Risen: if you're a whistleblower looking for a journalist you can trust, it looks like the DOJ just vouched for Risen's credibility in keeping his sources secret.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: cia, doj, eric holder, intimidation, james risen, journalists, source protection, sources

21 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2014 @ 7:16pm

It seems every ruler, from time to time, needs to put someone's 'head on a pike' to keep the rest in line. Dissident journalists are, after all, enemies of the state (i.e., the administration) in the highest degree. For Eric Holder to basically keep a loaded gun pointed at James Risen's head for so long without ever pulling the trigger has served this purpose. It's a fine line for any tyrant to walk: to be able to smite one's enemies and intimidate potential troublemakers, yet maintain the illusion that press freedom actually exists.

It's a mistake to credit (or blame) Eric Holder for any of this. His boss, the President, is the one who calls the shots, yet Obama strategically distances himself from his own bad decisions by having a proxy to hide behind -- and take the blame as needed.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2014 @ 7:36pm

I second that Obama has shown over and over again, where the muzzle the reporters and whistle blowers comes from. Many is the reporter who claims to have gotten a phone call from the president's staff cussing them out over some unfavorable piece. Several have been removed from the White House News Corp over the same types of news pieces.

You can also see it in action against whistle blowers that make uncomfortable circumstances for the administration. Any POTUS that can claim to have used the Espionage Act more than the entire total of other presidents throughout history of this nation speaks for itself. This is about pettiness, revenge, covering up mistakes and miscalculations, by attempting to intimidate the press and other whistle blowers. This is a president that doesn't want the uncomfortable job of explaining what went wrong nor taking the blame. It's always either the previous administration's fault or someone else.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2014 @ 7:49pm

Character witnesses
... it looks like the DOJ just vouched for Risen's credibility in keeping his sources secret.
You know, that statement you just made worries me. Here's the DoJ telling everyone, in effect, “You can trust Risen; see, he keeps his mouth shut.”

Makes me think suspicious, paranoid thoughts.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2014 @ 7:54pm

Because reasons
... but there is no reason at all that it had to wait so many years...

How do you know there wasn't any reason? Presume that, in the beginning, Risen wasn't willing to sign any deal DoJ was offering him.

What changed?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2014 @ 8:41pm

Re: groomed as FBI informant?
What changed? Maybe Risen finally agreed to become an FBI informant. The FBI has worked for decades to place informants throughout the entire media and news reporting food chain, from bottom to top.

Moles like CBS News vice-president Christopher Isham.

http://gawker.com/5789105/cbs-news-washington-bureau-chief-was-an-fbi-snitch
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2014 @ 9:03pm

Re: Re: groomed as FBI informant?
Maybe Risen finally agreed...

So, you're saying that the deal might have been: Risen confirms the name to DoJ, and they agree not to make him testify to it. Instead they put him back on the street, with no one the wiser.

And, I mean, they already knew the name, didn't they? I mean Risen is just confirming what DoJ already knows, fer gawds sake. It's not like he's really giving up his source. He's just admitting the obvious. Right? Yeah.

And they put him back on the street. All in all, it'll even do his reputation a little bit of good, won't it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
David, 12 Dec 2014 @ 9:49pm

Re: Character witnesses
Risen may keep his mouth shut, but there is no communication channel to him that the NSA, FBI, and DoJ have not bugged, so it doesn't really make a difference.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2014 @ 10:50pm

Governments sure do like classifying their dirty little secrets from the public, but they get bent out of shape when average citizens attempt to classify their personal lives using smartphone encryption.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 12:31am

They won't send him to jail or try to force him to reveal information, instead as a lesson they'll simply murder the poor man :(
[ link to this | view in thread ]
bosconet (profile), 13 Dec 2014 @ 7:21am

Re: Re: Character witnesses
more likely they wanted to avoid bad PR that the only one being prosecuted for state sponsored torture carried out by the CIA was a journalist who blew the whistle.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 8:12am

Re: Re: Character witnesses
... there is no communication channel to him...
There'll be a case officer tasked to him. A handler.

Speculation, of course. But that's in character for them, isn't it? They assign handlers, don't they?

The way I read it, he's not really conscious yet. So they just gave him a card, with a phone number. Someone he can call, if he ever needs a favor. 'Cause they're good guys, you know. It's just business. No hard feelings, right? Just if you ever need a favor, here's a phone number on a business card. Have a beer sometime.

But that came later. That came after he nodded yes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Reality bites, 13 Dec 2014 @ 9:21am

Holder is only slightly less credible than dick cheney
Holder the drooling dumass that gives guns to the cartels and full immunity to their bankers laundering 100's of Billions in blood money straight from the streets of USA.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 11:11am

Re: Holder is only slightly less credible than dick cheney
Holder the...

Holder the team player. He is a team player, isn't he? And, after all, in the end, it's just one big team, isn't it? Everyone here's really on the same side. One really big team: Team America.

The champs. The good guys.

Holder the team player. He's not in it for himself: the perqs just come with the job. Even the criminals believe in this country. What it stands for.

And the team doesn't blink.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 11:30am

would someone explain to me what right the DoJ has to call itself the Department of Justice? there isn't hardly a single example of anything they are involved in that could be called, by any stretch of the imagination, to do with 'justice'! everything done is to win, nothing less! it matters not whether what is done is legal, twisted, made up omitted or anything else! they should be ashamed of what they do and how they do it! the government should be similarly ashamed and actually step up to the plate and sort it out!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 12:35pm

Whether he revealed his sources/became a spy or not, James has risen to the top ¬_¬"
Maybe I need another reason...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 3:54pm

The nbcnews link has:

"No final decision has been made about exactly how to proceed, the official said, but added the government "will no longer seek what he's most concerned about revealing." "

And there must be a reason they don't need it. So the person involved has already admitted that he gave the information to Risen (or a "journalist")? Or they have acquired other evidence that the accused was in contact with Risen. Seems to me that is the implication, in which case it will come out at trial, presumably.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bergman (profile), 13 Dec 2014 @ 3:57pm

Re: Re: Character witnesses
I can name one. It's sometimes called sneakernet.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
David, 13 Dec 2014 @ 5:05pm

Re: Re: Re: Character witnesses
So they'll bug the sneakers.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
David, 13 Dec 2014 @ 5:08pm

Re:
would someone explain to me what right the DoJ has to call itself the Department of Justice?

Trademark law. If they don't actively use that name, they might lose it. The standard of "use" does not require "live up to".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 8:17pm

Re: Re: Re: Character witnesses
Except for John Kiriakou, of course.

(http://www.defendjohnk.com/wordpress/)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Guesternos, 15 Dec 2014 @ 6:45am

Won't Call Reporter
A crumb offered to the fawning press, controlled, manipulated, kowtowed, thrust aside, unable to take a photograph at a presidential public event, and utterly ineffective in critiquing this president.

No news here.
[ link to this | view in thread ]