New York Times investigative reporter James Risen blames President Barack Obama's hatred of the media for leak investigations being conducted by his administration.
"I don’t think any of this would be happening under the Obama administration if Obama didn’t want to do it, Risen said Sunday while receiving an award for courageous journalism at Colby College in Maine,
the Morning Sentinel reported.
"I think Obama hates the press. I think he doesn’t like the press and he hates leaks," Risen said in response to a question from a professor after accepting the award. "Journalists have no choice but to fight back because if they don’t, they will become irrelevant."
Risen himself is a target of the Obama Justice Department for refusing to disclose his sources for his 2006 book
"State of War." He could face jail time, but both Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have said jail is unlikely in Risen's case.
"I think it’s one of these things that the government has gotten into the habit of, crying wolf constantly and they’ve lost a lot of credibility on these issues," Risen said. "I would go to jail to protect the confidentiality of sources."
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