Defense, reporter keep sparring in ex-agent’s case

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The defense is intensifying efforts to portray an ex-New York Times reporter as inaccurate in her 1998 interviews with an anti-communist militant on trial for perjury.

Ann Louise Bardach now works for the Daily Beast but interviewed ex-CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles for the Times.

In her fifth day of testimony Tuesday, she defended herself against Posada’s attorneys’ claims that she exaggerated his role in 1997 bombings of Cuban tourist sites.

Bardach taped six hours of her interviews, but admitted she never got Posada’s permission to do so.

She said eight reporters, editors and transcribers handled the tapes, but called accusations anyone erased material “outrageous.”

Born in Cuba, the 83-year-old Posada sneaked into the U.S. in 2005. He is charged with lying about the bombings during immigration hearings in Texas.