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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder won't compel The New York Times' James Risen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, to name his confidential source on CIA operations intended to prevent Iran from building its nuclear program.

It's the conclusion of a standoff that has lasted for years, as NPR's David Folkenflik reported for our Newscast unit. It began in 2006, David reports, when "Risen's book State of War revealed the CIA had botched a scheme to feed the Iranians faulty material on how to refine nuclear fuel for weapons."

After that, "federal officials called for investigations, and Risen received his first of three subpoenas to compel him to disclose his source."

Risen, who shared a Pulitzer Prize for revealing the scope of the NSA's warrentless wiretapping program in 2005, refused, and risked jail as a result.

In June, however, Holder insisted that Risen wouldn't face jail time, saying, "As long as I'm attorney general, no reporter who is doing his job is going to go to jail."

Holder's decision not to compel Risen to reveal his source was first reported by NBC News. Risen's attorney had no comment, saying he has not received any formal word from the Justice Department about the decision.

Follow David Folkenflik on Twitter for more on this story.

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NYT Journalist James Risen Won't Be Forced To Reveal His Source

Apologize To Enemies? - Democrat Rep: CIA Should Say Sorry To Terrorists - Fox Friends
Apologize To Enemies? - Democrat Rep: CIA Should Say Sorry To Terrorists - Fox Friends It #39;s "Full Of Crap" - Cheney: Report Is False; Helped Stop Attacks ...

By: Wake Up America

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Apologize To Enemies? - Democrat Rep: CIA Should Say Sorry To Terrorists - Fox & Friends - Video

Kayaking a flooded Healdsburg 12/11/14
The Press Democrat is a newspaper in Santa Rosa California covering Wine Country, Sonoma County and the North Bay.

By: ThePressDemocrat

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Kayaking a flooded Healdsburg 12/11/14 - Video

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio will be the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)Sherrod Brown, a critic of large banks, will be the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee when the new Congress takes office.

The Ohio senator had been expected to be elevated to ranking member, making him the Democratic leader on the committee. Typically, ranking member and chairman positions are decided among Senate leadership.

Chairman Tim Johnson, a Democrat from South Dakota, announced his retirement at the end of the current session. Republicans will have the majority, and thus the committee chairmanships, when the new session begins in January.

Brown became the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee after more-senior senator chose not to become ranking member or seek leadership positions on other committees.

Brown has been seen as a critic of large financial institutions.

Hes somebody who really sees the financial sector and who really believes the financial sector should work for the broader interest of the public, said Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.

Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama is expected to become chairman of the committee. Like Brown, Shelby has been expected to address the issue of too-big-to-fail banks.

Brown collaborated with Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana on legislation to prevent taxpayer bailouts of financial institutions.

But Brown also negotiated with Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, on legislation that would clarify a rule in the Dodd-Frank law that would allow the Federal Reserve to regulate insurance companies differently than large banks.

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Sherrod Brown to be top Democrat on Banking Committee

Sen. Sherrod Brown will be the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee in the next Congress, providing the Ohio Democrat with a bigger stage to make his case that Wall Street banks are out of control and need to be reined in by the government.

On Friday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced he would pass on the post, which was his for the taking under seniority rules, so he can concentrate on his party leadership duties as the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate.

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Schumers announcement ends months of speculation in Washington and New Yorks financial communities over who will be the lead Democrat on the panel.

While the issue has lost relevance now that Democrats will not control the Senate next year, it still means an outspoken critic of the countrys biggest banks will be the lead Democrat on a panel that oversees Wall Street rather than a senator whose home state includes the countrys financial center.

For Schumer, it was a dilemma to decide whether to take the Banking top spot. If he took the job, he likely would have felt pressure from panel liberals, such as Brown and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), to take an aggressive stance toward his home state industry. If he didnt, he risked alienating a constituency that would be key to the possibility of him one day becoming Senate Democratic leader.

Wall Street officials, meanwhile, would have been looking for a lighter touch from their home state senator, who has often turned to the industry in search of campaign dollars to help both himself and fellow Democrats in elections.

The fact that Brown would get the job if Schumer passed on the post put increased attention on his decision.

In recent years, Brown has emerged as one of Wall Streets fiercest critics in Congress.

Last year, he teamed up with Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on a bill that would require the biggest banks to meet much tougher funding rules in what the industry saw as a de facto attempt to break up the largest Wall Street institutions.

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Wall Street critic Brown to be top Democrat on Banking