CIA manager testifies more than 90 knew about covert mission

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A CIA manager testified under cross-examination in a trial near Washington that more than 90 people knew about a covert Iranian mission that was leaked to the media.

Prosecutors have charged ex-CIA case officer Jeffrey Sterling with being the source of leak. They say he told journalist James Risen about the program because he was bitter about his treatment at the agency.

Defense lawyers say that the leak could have come from anywhere and that Sterling has faced unfair suspicion because he sued the CIA for racial discrimination.

In testimony Thursday in federal court, the CIA manager testified that more than 90 people knew about the program. The mission involved using a Russian asset nicknamed "Merlin" to funnel deliberately flawed nuclear blueprints to Iran.