Co-Conspirators

Abstract

This chapter traces how threats against the press, enabled by the Espionage Act, significantly accelerate under the Obama administration. An unprecedented number of government officials are prosecuted for disclosures to journalists, including Thomas Drake, Stephen Kim, Jeffrey Sterling, and John Kiriakou. These prosecutions of leaks implicate journalists as well. James Rosen of Fox News is accused of being a suspected “aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator” in the Espionage Act prosecution of Kim. James Risen of the New York Times engages in a seven-year legal battle to resist a subpoena to testify in the prosecution of Sterling. AP reporters also discover government wiretaps of their phones, prompting a crisis between the administration and the press.