The Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times reporter James Risen offered a stark critique of President Barack Obama. Risen said the president is “the greatest enemy to press freedom in a generation.”
Risen’s comments were published 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.”
Risen is the journalist the Obama administration has been trying to get 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 which 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.
