JOHN KIRIAKOU: Jeffrey Sterlings Unwanted Spy
October 24, 2019
The CIA agent who was imprisoned after bringing a racial discrimination case
against the agency has written a gripping David-and-Goliath account of being
greatly wronged and coming out stronger on the other side.
The Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood, in Jefferson County,
Colorado, where Jeffrey Sterling was imprisoned. (Chris Piner, Wikimedia
Commons)
By John Kiriakou
Special to Consortium News
I had the pleasure this week of introducing CIA whistleblower Jeffrey
Sterling upon the launch of his new book, Unwanted Spy at an independent
bookstore in Washington, D.C. Sterling was released from prison last year
after spending three years there following his unjust conviction on seven
espionage charges, ostensibly for leaking classified information to former
New York Times reporter James Risen.
Sterling steadfastly maintained his innocence, refusing to ever consider a
plea bargain. He believed that as soon as he could get in front of a jury
(in the notorious Eastern District of Virginia, and in front of the
notorious Judge Leonie Brinkema) they would see how ridiculous the charges
were and would acquit him. But he was wrong. The fix was in.
Last July, Sterlings publisher sent me an advance copy of Unwanted Spy
and asked for a blurb. I took it with me on a flight to Greece and, having
missed a connection in Athens, sat down to read it. I quite literally
couldnt put it down, and I finished it in one sitting.
Ive known Jeffrey Sterling for years. He was a highly-regarded CIA case
officer and Iran expert who was also fluent in Farsi. He was supposed to be
sent to the Middle East to recruit spies to steal secrets, but at the last
minute after his personal effects were put on a ship and sent to his
would-be post his position was withdrawn and he was instead offered a
dead-end job in Africa. He went to his boss to complain. His talents would
go to waste in Africa, he said. His bosss response would change the course
of Sterlings life. We think a big black guy speaking Farsi would look
strange.
When did you realize I was black? was Sterlings response.
Sterling went on to file a racial discrimination suit against the CIA, and
Jim Risen was interested in the story for The New York Times. Thats how
Sterling and Risen met. But the CIA and the Justice Department would later
accuse Sterling of revealing top-secret information related to a botched
attempt to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program, something called Operation
Merlin, to Risen. The governments case that these conversations were
about Iran and not about a racial discrimination suit was based entirely on
metadata. Sterling and Risen held dozens of phone calls over 18 months, the
Justice Department said, alleging that the calls were for Sterling to pass
Risen classified information.
There was no proof, however, that any such conversations had ever taken
place. And indeed, an early target of the Justice Departments
investigation into the leak, a House Intelligence Committee staff member,
was fired during the same period. Why? For having unauthorized contact with
James Risen. Given the existence of other legitimate suspects in the leak,
why then did the FBI focus solely on Sterling? It was because he had aired
the CIAs dirty laundry. He had revealed the secret. The CIA has a history
of racism. There was still discrimination against African-Americans.
Jeffrey Sterling in2016. (Eleivy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Warning Other Whistleblowers
The government did what it does well. It chose a target, a victim, and set
out to ruin him. That was Jeffrey Sterling. As in the cases of NSA
whistleblowers Tom Drake, Bill Binney, and Kirk Weibe, and in my own
whistleblowing case, the purpose was not necessarily to send Sterling to
prison for the rest of his life, or even for a long time. It was to
frighten any other would-be whistleblower, anybody considering bringing to
light evidence of waste, fraud, abuse, illegality, or threats to the public
health or public safety. Scott Shane, a reporter for The New York Times,
said that on the day of my arrest, for example, every one of the Timess
national security sources went completely silent. That was the goal.
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