Associates say CIA officer is not leak source

The CIA officer fired for unauthorized contacts with the media denies being a source for the Washington Post's award-winning story on secret CIA detention centers. "She did not leak any classified information, and she did not have access to the information apparently attributed to her by some government officials," said Washington lawyer Ty Cobb, who is representing veteran CIA analyst Mary McCarthy. A law enforcement source, speaking last week on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, linked her to the Post's story about the CIA's covert sites in Eastern Europe and elsewhere used to hold terror suspects. The story caused an international clamor last fall. A McCarthy friend and former professional associate also asserted she was not the Post's source. "She was not the source for that story," said Rand Beers, who has spoken with her. The Post's Dana Priest won the Pulitzer Prize for a package of stories that included a report about a covert prison system created by the CIA. Citing multiple sources, the story said there were facilities in eight countries, including a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe. Senior government officials have said the report did significant damage to national security.