(ALEXANDRIA, Va., AP) — A federal jury is slated to hear closing arguments in the leak trial of a former CIA officer accused of giving details of a classified operation to a New York Times journalist.
The ex-CIA man, 47-year-old Jeffrey Sterling of O’Fallon, Missouri, is charged in U.S. District Court in Alexandria with illegally disclosing a secret mission he participated in to foist deliberately flawed nuclear-weapons blueprints on Iran.
Prosecutors say Sterling leaked the program to reporter James Risen to get back at the agency for perceived mistreatment.
Sterling denies the charge. His lawyers say Sterling unfairly fell under suspicion because he had alienated CIA leadership by filing a racial discrimination complaint.
Risen refused to divulge his sources, forcing prosecutors to try to build a circumstantial case against Sterling.
Prosecutors say Sterling leaked the program to reporter James Risen to get back at the agency for perceived mistreatment.
Sterling denies the charge. His lawyers say Sterling unfairly fell under suspicion because he had alienated CIA leadership by filing a racial discrimination complaint.
Risen refused to divulge his sources, forcing prosecutors to try to build a circumstantial case against Sterling.
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