Press freedom activists have delivered a petition with more than 125,000 signatures to the Justice Department in support of New York Times investigative journalist James Risen. Risen has risked possible prison time by refusing to divulge the source behind his exposé on a failed CIA operation to deliver faulty nuclear bomb blueprints to Iran. Federal prosecutors believe the leak came from alleged CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling, whose trial opens soon. Speaking in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Risen thanked his supporters and said he is seeking to defend the rights of future journalists.

James Risen: “There is just no way to conduct aggressive investigative reporting without a reporter’s privilege of some kind, without confidential sources. And I don’t believe you can have a democracy without aggressive investigative reporting and without freedom of the press.”