After pushing for years to get testimony from a recalcitrant New York Times reporter in a CIA leak case, prosecutors were unsuccessful in a last-minute attempt to bar journalist James Risen from testifying at all.
Federal prosecutors in Alexandria filed a motion yesterday saying that neither prosecutors nor the defense should be permitted to call Risen at the trial of ex-CIA man Jeffrey Sterling, whose jury trial begins today.
But yesterday afternoon, the judge said a jury should be able to hear Risen's testimony after defense lawyers said it was important to their case.
Prosecutors believe Sterling leaked details about a botched CIA operation in Iran to Risen. Risen has said he will never reveal his sources, so prosecutors argued that there's no point calling him.
