Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times reporter James Risen is calling President Obama the “greatest enemy to press freedom in a generation.”
According to Talking Points Memo, Risen’s comments were published by the Times in Maureen Dowd’s Sunday column, titled “Where’s the Justice at Justice?”
“A lot of people still think this is some kind of game or signal or spin,” Risen told Dowd. “They don’t want to believe that Obama wants to crack down on the press and whistle-blowers. But he does. He’s the greatest enemy to press freedom in a generation.”
The Obama administration has tried to force Risen to testify about leaked information on a botched CIA operation in Iran. Risen reported about the operation in his book, State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration. Specifically, the Justice Department wants Risen to testify against ex-CIA agent Jeffrey Sterling, who the Obama administration thinks leaked the information.
In June the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Risen to keep him from having to reveal the identity of his source in the leaked CIA case.
