Gen Petraeus plea bargins, Jeffrey Sterling faces 100 years in prison for outing lies about Iran
David Petraeus
CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling now faces up to 100 years in prison and a fine of $2.25 million for outing the CIA’s planting false evidence of nuclear weapons in Iran. Meanwhile, former CIA head and decorated war General David Petraeus has just accepted a plea deal on federal charges of sharing classified information.
Obama promised he would be honorable and “protect” whistleblowers from prosecution and punishment as Sterling’s case spirals into a media blackout and the man is due in court on April 24th.
The Petraeus scandal went public as he resigned from his role as CIA director. He turned over several so-called “black books” to his biographer and girlfriend Paula Broadwell, which contained secret information about the Afghanistan war, including code names, covert operatives and more.
Sterling, found guilty in January on 9 charges under the Espionage Act, shared classified information about a CIA plan to target the Iranian nuclear program.
RT summarizes the Sterling case:
Sterling was charged under the Espionage Act for disclosing classified information about a mission meant to slow Iran’s nuclear program to New York Times reporter James Risen, who then wrote about the CIA’s Iranian plot in his 2006 book, “State of War.” The plan’s goal was to learn more about the country’s controversial nuclear program and impair its progress, and the schematics were reportedly funneled to the Iranians via a Russian scientist with the codename “Merlin.”
Risen was also critical of the plan in his book, saying it could have inadvertently helped Iran if they were able to identify what was wrong with the blueprints. Prosecutor Eric Olshan argued in court that these criticisms matched up with Sterling’s own view of the mission, and portrayed the CIA as unresponsive to potential risks.
