“At the same time that Mr. Obama commuted the sentence of Ms. Manning, a low-ranking enlisted soldier at the time of her leaks, he also pardoned James E. Cartwright, the retired Marine general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty to lying about his conversations with reporters to F.B.I. agents investigating a leak of classified information about cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program.” Charles Savage — NYT 17 January 2017

Chelsea Manning will be released in the spring so that is good news for her and her family. Unfortunately, Jeffrey Sterling’s name was not on the list of people receiving clemency. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

Nobody expected Mr Obama to pardon Edward Snowden but some had hoped that the US President would pardon ex-CIA Jeffrey Sterling.

TIMELINE

Jeffrey Alexander Sterling is an American lawyer and former CIA employee who was arrested, charged, and convicted of violating the Espionage Act for revealing details about Operation Merlin to journalist James Risen. Sterling denies the charges.

The case against him is circumstantial. (There is evidence that Sterling and Risen have called each other. Risen has of course dozens of contacts at the CIA.)

Sterling joined the CIA on May 14, 1993. In 1995, he became operations officer in the Iran task force of the CIA’s Near East and South Asia division.

On December 22, 2010, U.S. attorney Neil H. MacBride filed an indictment against Jeffrey Alexander Sterling on the Unlawful Retention and Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information, Mail Fraud, Unauthorized Conveyance of Government Property, and Obstruction of Justice. Sterling was arrested on January 6, 2011.

Sterling was convicted of espionage charges on January 26, 2015

On 11 May 2015, Sterling was sentenced to 3½ years in prison and thus set for release in 2018.

On August 11 2016, Jeffrey Sterling filed a health complaint against Colorado federal correctional institution.

Jeffrey’s appellate hearing took place in early December 2016. “His attorneys did a phenomenal job and there were some pointed questions asked by at least one judge.”

For now, his wife and friends hope that all three judges believe in Jeffrey’s innocence and overturn the verdict on all counts.

Short Documentary: “The Invisible Man: CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling”

REFERENCES

Chelsea Manning to Be Released Early as Obama Commutes Sentence — NYT