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Barton Gellman aware of legal risks

Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman said Tuesday he’s aware of the legal risks that come with his reporting on Edward Snowden’s stolen documents.

“I’ve certainly given a lot of consideration, so has the Washington Post, to legal risks and exposure and staying on the right side of the line,” Gellman explained during a panel discussion at the Georgetown University Law Center. "And I don’t rule out that there is legal exposure either criminally in an unlikely case or rather more likely civil compulsion. Just because Edward Snowden has outted himself doesn’t mean every part of my interaction or my reporting around these documents has been disclosed or I’d be willing to disclose any more of it.”

While Attorney General Eric Holder has recently said the U.S. government won’t prosecute American journalists doing their job, Gellman cautioned “there’s lots of wiggle room there” for the Justice Department to continue investigations into the media.

He noted Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s prepared testimony last month to the House and Senate intelligence committees threatening legal action against Snowden and his “accomplices.”

“In context it could mean nothing else than the journalists who are writing the stories,” Gellman said.

Faced with so much legal scrutiny — Gellman said he’s been told his phone records were obtained at one point through a National Security Letter — he said his reporting process now requires more time dealing with "technical and operational security.

“I spend huge amount of time and effort, which is essentially a tax on my reporting activity, to protect sources of all kinds from the sort of digital trails that will lead straight to them,” he said.

Clarification: This post and headline has been updated to more accurately reflect Gellman’s comments. It also corrects a word in one of his quotes – he said ‘interaction’ and not ‘iteration’ as the original post said.