Who’s who

AP Photo

Jana Winter

Jana Winter: The Fox News reporter has been subpoenaed to testify in Colorado about her confidential sources in her coverage of James Holmes, the man accused of the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.

Days after the killing spree that left 12 dead, Winter reported that the accused gunman mailed his psychiatrist a notebook containing violent images. She cited two anonymous law enforcement members. Officials sought to identify the sources who they said violated a blanket gag order.

Winter’s attorney argued that she should not have to comply with the Colorado court because she is based in New York, which applies an absolute reporter’s privilege for confidential sources. The court rejected this argument.

Winter is appealing the New York decision. The Colorado court granted her motion to delay her hearing until January, giving her time to finish her New York appeal.

Joe Hosey: The Patch.com reporter was found in contempt of court for not revealing his anonymous sources for a story he wrote about a double murder in Joliet, Ill.

In September, the court gave Hosey 21 days to hand over his notes and documents relating to his source. If these documents did not reveal the source’s identity, Hosey would have had to write an affidavit detailing how he came to acquire the information.

Defense attorneys argued that the information in Hosey’s news report could influence a jury.

Hosey’s attorney, Kenneth Schmetterer, told the judge his client did not intend to comply with the order and requested that the judge rule on the contempt charge so that they could file an appeal.

Hosey was fined $1,000 and has to pay court fees. He is also being fined $300 a day until he reveals his sources, though the fines have been stayed pending the appeal.

Donald John Sachtleben: In September, the former FBI agent pleaded guilty to disclosing information to the Associated Press in May 2012 regarding a thwarted Yemen-based plan to bomb a U.S.-bound airplane.

After the AP reported the story, the Justice Department secretly subpoenaed the phone records of more than 20 of their telephone lines.

Sachtleben had worked as a bomb technician for the FBI from 1983 to 2008. In 2009, he started working for a defense contractor where he maintained his top secret security clearance.

Sachtleben first developed the relationship with the AP reporter in May 2009. Then, from Jan. 2010 to May 2012, he communicated with the journalist about “explosives used in terrorist plots or attacks and the FBI’s analysis of such explosives,” according to court documents.

Sachtleben faces a 43-month sentence for the leak. He also pleaded guilty to charges involving child pornography.

James Rosen: The Justice Department labeled the Washington correspondent for Fox News a “co-conspirator” to a violation of the Espionage Act following his 2009 news report on North Korea.

The label allowed the Justice Department to obtain a warrant for Rosen’s email account using an exception in the Privacy Protection Act. An affidavit claimed Rosen, in his newsgathering, was violating federal statutes that prohibit “unauthorized disclosure of national defense information.”

Prosecutors believe that Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a State Department official, leaked the information to Rosen and have charged him in relation to the disclosure. He has pleaded not guilty.

James Risen: The New York Times reporter James Risen was subpoenaed in 2008 to testify to the identity of his confidential source in his 2006 book on the Central Intelligence Agency. In his book he wrote about an operation aimed at Iran’s nuclear program with information allegedly provided to him by a former CIA operations officer. Risen and his attorney have been fighting the subpoena.

Risen’s attorney argued in a July letter that the Justice Department’s effort to make him testify is “utterly inconsistent” with the new guidelines for journalist subpoenas.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined a request for a rehearing in October. He is expected to ask the Supreme Court to review the case.

Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA operations officer, is accused of providing classified information to James Risen. The information he allegedly disclosed was about a botched operation intended to injure Iran’s nuclear program.

Sterling is charged with 10 counts, including unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and obstruction of justice.