Jeffrey Sterling is a former CIA case officer who was wrongfully convicted of violating the Espionage Act.
Sterling worked at the CIA, including for the Iran task force, for nearly a decade. Jeffrey sued the agency for racial discrimination, and also went through proper channels to tell both Congressional intelligence committees about the discrimination he faced at the CIA and about a botched and dangerous covert operation by the CIA. His discrimination suit was not allowed to go forward as the government successfully argued it posed a threat to national security. He was subsequently fired by the CIA.
Years after being fired, he was charged under the Espionage Act for allegedly disclosing classified information about the very operation he approached the Congress about. The circumstantial evidence case against Sterling was considered a “trial by metadata” by the BBC.
He was released in 2018 after serving two and a half years in prison.
His book, Unwanted Spy – The Persecution of an American Whistleblower will be released on October 15, 2019, from Bold Type Books.
Jeffrey Sterling is a panelist on The Big Chill panel.
