Blowing the Whistle on Government Recklessness Is a Public Service, Not a Crime

A federal indictment accuses former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling of giving classified information to New York Times reporter James Risen -- about a CIA operation that provided flawed nuclear weapon blueprints to Iran in 2000.

The charges in that indictment are unproven, and a trial is set for January 2015. But no one disputes that Sterling told Senate Intelligence Committee staffers about that CIA action, which was dubbed Operation Merlin.

As Risen documented in his book State of War, Operation Merlin was ill-conceived and dangerous.

DropTheCharges.org

Follow daily coverage of the trial at ExposeFacts.org.

Background:
>>  Marcy Wheeler, ExposeFacts: "The Leaky CIA's Case Against Alleged Leaker"
>>  Norman Solomon, Marcy Wheeler, The Nation: "The Government War Against Reporter James Risen"
>>  Marcy Wheeler, ExposeFacts: "The Government’s Single-Source Theory of Journalism"
>>  Matt Apuzzo, The New York Times, "CIA Leaked Classified Information to Support Program"
>>  Marcy Wheeler, ExposeFacts: "A Tale of Two Alleged Iran Nuke Leakers"
>>  Marcy Wheeler, ExposeFacts: "Grassley Questions Why DOD IG Cannot Report on Leaks"

In the name of countering nuclear proliferation, the CIA risked promoting it.

The prosecution of Sterling smacks of selective prosecution. General James Cartwright, who reportedly leaked information on far more recent and sensitive counter-proliferation efforts against Iran, has not faced prosecution. And the Defense Department’s top officials cannot even be identified as leakers by that agency’s Inspector General reports, which apparently protected the former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta from scrutiny for leaking classified information about the raid on Osama bin Laden.

Please sign this petition urging the U.S. Department of Justice to drop all charges against Jeffrey Sterling.

To the Attorney General of the United States and President Obama:

As a whistleblower, former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling went through channels to inform staffers of the Senate Intelligence Committee about the ill-conceived and dangerous CIA action known as Operation Merlin. The current effort to prosecute Mr. Sterling, for allegedly providing information about Operation Merlin to journalist James Risen, comes 15 years after that CIA operation took place. This prosecution serves no valid purpose.

Moreover, this is a case that smacks of selective prosecution. Top officials, including General James Cartwright and the former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, reportedly leaked classified information on far more recent and sensitive matters.

We urge you to drop all charges against Mr. Sterling.



1-25 of 56661 signatures
Number Date Name Location Please add any comment you ...
56661 1 year ago Philip Round Bangkok, NY , TH Indeed! It is important that there is independent public monitoring of secretive national security agencies the commit so many crimes in the name of an elected government. Torture, Murder, war crim...
56660 1 year ago Jim Head Oak Park, MI , US
56659 1 year ago Jim Head Oak Park, MI , US
56658 2.7 years ago Randy Iuliano Portage, MI , US
56657 3.1 years ago Clive Hawkins Roseneath, ON , CA Secrets and lies are a danger to us all. They facilitate gross abuses of power that do nothing for humanity, and only benefit the few.
56656 4.7 years ago Tiffany Mallet Las Vegas, NV , US I d onot understand how this statement says two opposite things at one time. we all know we dont want to leak information to enemies and provide them with weapons. However, I ddo not understand why ...
56655 5 years ago Anonymous Arlington , TX , US
56654 5.3 years ago Ruth Bauer Neustadter Hackensack, NJ , US We need whistle blowers as part of whatever democracy we have left.
56653 5.3 years ago Stephanie Christoff White Plains, NY , US
56652 5.3 years ago Axel Sabersky Lomita, CA , US The Enactment of the US ('In God We Trust' US Dollar') Death Penalty is not in compliance within any Law, Religion and Democracy. It is allegedly a high crime and Misdemeanor of Treason, Ter...
56651 5.3 years ago Axel Sabersky Lomita, CA , US The Enactment of the US ('In God We Trust' US Dollar') is not in compliance within any Law, Religion and Democracy. It is allegedly a high crime and Misdemeanor of Treason, Terrorism, Racke...
56650 5.5 years ago erin yarrobino ozone park, NY , US
56649 5.9 years ago j furstoss oakland, CA , US
56648 5.9 years ago brian moore Grayson, GA , US
56647 6 years ago Anonymous Westminster, MA , US
56646 6.1 years ago Dan Alexander Milton, WA , US
56645 6.2 years ago cheryl young Walling, TN , US
56644 6.2 years ago Anonymous ot , NL
56643 6.2 years ago Anonymous Miami, FL , US
56642 6.2 years ago Katen Steele Westminstet, MD , US IRAN KNEW, Why would our Governing body incarcerate someone because the American people were informed
56641 6.3 years ago Karen V Brown Saint John, NB , CA
56640 6.4 years ago Ryan Reid Olympia, WA , US OMG WTF GROOOOOOOPSTERS = KOCH-ROACHES ON THE RUN... CO-Operacy-IN-ACTION INITIATIVES & GLOBAL-LOCAL-GLOCAL-I-ZATION WILL WIN OUT OR WITHIN ALL FASCISTS...EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
56639 6.4 years ago Lon Diffenderfer Thompsontown, Pennsylvania, PA , US
56638 6.5 years ago Leslie Dee Savage, MN , US
56637 6.5 years ago Ryan McGrath Seattle, WA , US
Next ->

When you sign our petition, your name and email address may be provided to one or more of the sponsoring organizations. You may opt out at any time.

Sponsored by ExposeFacts, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Government Accountability Project (GAP), The Nation, The Progressive / Center for Media and Democracy, Reporters Without Borders, and RootsAction.org.

We have removed all duplicate signers.