CIA asset 'Merlin' testifies about mission at CIA leak trial

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Russian emigre who became a top CIA asset has described to jurors his role in a secret mission to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions.

The asset, nicknamed Merlin, testified Friday through a recorded video deposition at the leak trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling in federal court in Alexandria.

Prosecutors say Sterling, of O'Fallon, Missouri, leaked details about the classified operation to journalist James Risen, who wrote about the mission in a 2006 book.

In his testimony Friday, Merlin said that many details in Risen's book were inaccurate. And he said he had no idea how quotes attributed to him ended up in Risen's book.

Sterling's lawyers deny he was a source for the book and say the leaks could have come from a variety of other sources.