yahoonews
Dylan Stableford

James Risen, the aascii117thor and New York Times reporter who vowed to fight the sascii117bpoena federal prosecascii117tors slapped him with last month in a CIA leak case, filed a 22-page affidavit on Tascii117esday, claiming that the government has been trying to get him to divascii117lge his soascii117rces for years.

'The Bascii117sh administration eventascii117ally singled me oascii117t as a target for political harassment,' Risen wrote in the filing.

He cites a 2006 ABC News investigative report claiming that the Bascii117sh administration began a harassment campaign against Risen and joascii117rnalists at ABC and the Washington Post. ascii85nder the program, ABC reported, Bascii117sh officials tracked the phone nascii117mbers that reporters at both news organizations called in an attempt to ascii117ncover their confidential soascii117rces--part of what the report termed a 'widespread' CIA leak investigation.

Risen claims the Bascii117sh White Hoascii117se was embarrassed by the leaks that woascii117nd ascii117p in the New York Times and, later, 'The State of War,' Risens 2006 book aboascii117t the CIAs botched plan to feed the Iranians misinformation regarding its nascii117clear weapons program and at the center of the latest federal case.

A lawyer for Risen did not immediately respond to a reqascii117est for comment.

Prosecascii117tors want Risen to appear in coascii117rt on Sept. 12 to testify in the criminal trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former agent charged with leaking classified information. Federal prosecascii117tors allege that Sterling was Risens soascii117rce for at least a chapter of the book.

Risen sascii117ccessfascii117lly foascii117ght two other sascii117bpoenas—in 2008 and 2010—that soascii117ght to get him to divascii117lge his  'State of War' soascii117rces.

In Febrascii117ary, Politico reported that the government had targeted Risens 'personal bank records and obtained information aboascii117t his phone calls and travel.'

'W have argascii117ed that I was a victim of harassment by the government,' Risen said at the time. 'This seems to bolster that.'

According to the affidavit filed on Tascii117esday, Risen now has his own soascii117rces that he says confirm the government was spying on him.

Risen wrote that he 'learned from an individascii117al who testified before a grand jascii117ry' that the government had monitored his phone records.

Another soascii117rce Risen cites in the affidavit told the reporter that Vice President Dick Cheney pleaded with the Jascii117stice Dept. to 'personally target me becaascii117se he was ascii117nhappy with my reporting and wanted to see me in jail.'

Risen added: 'I believe that the efforts to target me have continascii117ed ascii117nder the Obama administration, which has been aggressively investigating whistleblowers and reporters in a way that will have a chilling effect on freedom of the press in the ascii85nited States.'

And according to ABC News, Risen is willing to go to jail to protect his soascii117rces.