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Ex-CIA officer accused of leaking Iran spy secrets to reporter

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY
Updated

A former CIA officer who erroneously revealed the agency's spy network in Iran has been indicted on charges of leaking secrets to a New York Times reporter.

The indictment, handed up Dec. 22 but unsealed today in federal court in Alexandria, Va., charges Jeffrey Sterling, 43, of O'Fallon, Mo., with 10 counts, including disclosing national security information and improperly keeping the data. He was arrested in St. Louis and is to appear there in federal court later today.

The Associated Press writes that although the indictment did not say specifically what was leaked, it's clear from the dates and other details that the case centers on leaks to Times reporter James Risen, whose 2006 book, State of War, dealt with espionage in Iran. Politico has details.

Sterling handled Iranian spies who had defected. In the book, Risen detailed how an unidentified CIA officer mistakenly revealed the CIA's network in Iran, allowing Iranian officials to smash it, AP writes. After the book was published, the FBI focused on Sterling, whom Risen had written about for the Times in 2003.

Risen was subpoenaed twice to reveal his sources but he refused.

(Posted by Michael Winter)

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