{
  "id": 62,
  "slug": "2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling",
  "title": "United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source",
  "occurred_on": "2014-10-17",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "country": "US",
  "continent": "north-america",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
  "leader_slug": "barack-obama",
  "issue_of_the_day": "A 2006 book account of a botched CIA operation meant to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program.",
  "outcome": "reversed",
  "outcome_on": "2014-10-17",
  "outcome_note": "After the Supreme Court declined to hear Risen's appeal, the Justice Department chose not to compel his testimony or the identity of his source; Sterling was convicted without it.",
  "granularity": "anchor",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "For years, federal prosecutors sought New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony identifying a confidential source in a CIA leak case; the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, but Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately chose not to force him to testify or name the source.{c:231}{c:232}{c:233}{c:234}",
  "what_happened": "James Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote in a 2006 book and in earlier newspaper articles about a botched CIA operation aimed at Iran's nuclear program, citing an unnamed source. Federal prosecutors identified former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling as a suspect and, starting in 2008, subpoenaed Risen to testify before a grand jury and later at Sterling's trial, seeking to make him confirm Sterling was his source. Risen refused and fought the subpoena through the courts; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in 2013 that reporters had no First Amendment privilege to withhold a source's identity in a criminal case, and the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in 2014. Attorney General Eric Holder then approved only a limited subpoena that did not ask Risen to identify his source, and in October 2014 said prosecutors would not force him to testify at all. Sterling was convicted in January 2015 using other evidence, without Risen's testimony.{c:231}{c:232}{c:233}{c:234}",
  "stated_justification": "Prosecutors said Risen's direct testimony was necessary to prove Sterling was his source; Attorney General Eric Holder said of the resolution, \"the way in which that case was handled after the new policies were put in place [is] an example of how the Justice Department can proceed.\"{c:231}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Risen faced years of legal jeopardy, including the threat of jail for contempt, before prosecutors relented; the case became a benchmark for how far the government would press reporters to identify sources in national-security leak prosecutions.{c:232}",
  "unknowns": null,
  "status": "historical",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:06Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:01Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T00:10:57Z",
  "stage": "punish",
  "ladder_note": null,
  "country_name": "United States",
  "tactics": [
    "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
    "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "barack-obama",
    "name": "Barack Obama",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/barack-obama"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T23:08:06Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "historical",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": null
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "barack-obama",
      "name": "Barack Obama",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/barack-obama"
    },
    {
      "slug": "eric-holder",
      "name": "Eric Holder",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/eric-holder"
    },
    {
      "slug": "james-risen",
      "name": "James Risen",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/james-risen"
    },
    {
      "slug": "jeffrey-sterling",
      "name": "Jeffrey Sterling",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/jeffrey-sterling"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "new-york-times",
      "name": "The New York Times",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/new-york-times"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 231,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 62,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Holder on the case's resolution",
      "statement": "Holder pointed to the Risen case as an example of how the department could proceed under new leak-investigation policies.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 211,
      "evidence_quote": "If you look at the last case involving Mr. Risen, the way in which that case was handled after the new policies were put in place [is] an example of how the Justice Department can proceed.",
      "evidence_date": "2014-10-17",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:02Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 211,
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        "title": "The James Risen case and Eric Holder's tarnished press freedom legacy",
        "publisher": "Freedom of the Press Foundation",
        "published_on": "2014-10-17",
        "link_state": "live",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/231"
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    {
      "id": 232,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 62,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Subpoena limited to not naming the source",
      "statement": "Holder approved a subpoena to compel Risen's testimony that did not require him to identify his source.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 212,
      "evidence_quote": "Attorney General Eric Holder has approved a limited subpoena to compel Risen to testify, but it does not permit prosecutors to ask Risen the identity of his source.",
      "evidence_date": "2014-01-16",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
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      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:02Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 212,
        "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/official-prosecutors-will-subpoena-reporter-james-risen",
        "final_url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/official-prosecutors-will-subpoena-reporter-james-risen/",
        "title": "Official: Prosecutors will subpoena reporter James Risen",
        "publisher": "CBS News",
        "published_on": "2014-01-16",
        "link_state": "live",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/232"
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    {
      "id": 233,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 62,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Prosecutors sought only narrow confirmations",
      "statement": "Prosecutors planned to ask Risen only to confirm authorship of his book and related articles.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 212,
      "evidence_quote": "prosecutors plan to ask Risen questions limited to confirming that he is the author of the book 'State of War' as well as two related New York Times articles in late 2001 and early 2002",
      "evidence_date": "2014-01-16",
      "method": "outlet_report",
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      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:03Z",
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      "id": 234,
      "subject_type": "incident",
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      "field": "action",
      "value": "Prosecutors sought confirmation Sterling was a source",
      "statement": "Prosecutors intended to ask Risen to confirm Sterling was an on-the-record source for a 2002 article.",
      "attribution": null,
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      "final_url": "https://freedom.press/issues/the-james-risen-case-and-eric-holders-tarnished-press-freedom-legacy/",
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
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  "cite_as": "United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}