Mr. James Risen
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Dear Mr. Risen:
We appreciate good investigative reporting into government misconduct, but you crossed the line when you received and published an illegal leak of classified information about an NSA program to uncover planned terrorist activities on U.S. soil. You are eager to expose government secrets but have not been forthcoming about why the New York Times waited a year to publish the story, and why it did so shortly before your book was released. We find it troubling that you insist on accountability from the government but the Times is refusing to be accountable to its readers and the public. We hope that you cooperate with the Justice Department investigation of this matter and tell the truth rather than go to jail to protect your anonymous sources.