New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson has recently confessed that Condoleezza Rice personally asked her to 'kill' a CIA story from reporter James [Jim] Risen about Iran's nuclear program. According to Mediaite, Abramson's statement was revealed during an interview with "60 Minutes," and ended up online.

According to the Washington Times, Rice made the request while serving as national security adviser. Abramson recalled, "She had a legal yellow notebook on her lap with lots of notes on it, and once I had taken a seat across from her, she barely looked up... She basically read in a very stern manner from her notes on this legal pad, which were just point after point about why this story would be damaging to the national security. I don't think I uttered much more than 'hello,' and 'I will think of what you said."

Abramson continued by saying that Rice was most concerned that "Jim ceases all reporting on this story, which was really an extraordinary request." She also divulged that she regrets not publishing Risen's story, which ended up revealing the CIA's failed attempt to hinder Iran's nuclear program and landed him in a massive legal battle against the Department of Justice for not revealing his source.

She stated, "It seemed, in the calculus of all of the major stories we were dealing with at that point, not worth it to me and I regret that decision now. I regret that I did not back a great reporter, Jim Risen, who I've worked with and who then worked for me and whose work I knew was solid as a rock," further conveying her apologies for not originally publishing the story.

Politico reports that Abramson's new stance could help bolster Risen's argument that the information concerning the CIA was newsworthy, particularly as concern about Iran's nuclear program ramped up in the past decade.