Leftish

Clandestine cellphones, meetings in darkened doorways… the stuff of spy movies, or reporters interacting with WikiLeaks contacts?

The New York Times has an interesting read about the lengths reporters have to go to safely work with sources at the popular online whistle-blowing outfit, and the high-tech war being waged by the U.S. and global intelligence community against WikiLeaks:

“In a second case, against Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former C.I.A. officer accused of providing classified information to another Times reporter, James Risen, for a 2006 book, the government has been more aggressive, insisting that Mr. Risen must testify. He has refused to say anything about confidential matters, and Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., has sided with him. She said there were other ways to prove the case against Mr. Sterling, including “numerous telephone records, e-mail messages, computer files and testimony that strongly indicates that Sterling was Risen’s source.”

Typical communication methods– email, cellphones, etc. as well as even using credit cards to buy plane tickets would tip off the NSA or CIA to help them narrow down the identity of possible informants. Author Adam Liptak quotes a former Justice Department official, “You have to meet a reporter face to face, hand him an envelope and walk away quickly.”