With the Obama administration already on the defensive about its threat to jail — or impose harsh fines on — New York Times reporter James Risen for refusing to reveal a confidential source, a Washington Post editorial urges the government to end all legal moves against him.

The Post editorial (“The Administration Should Not Press Reporter James Risen to Reveal a Source,” August 22) quotes a recent statement by President Obama about events in Ferguson, Missouri: “Here, in the United States of America, police should not be bullying or arresting journalists who are just trying to do their jobs and report to the American people on what they see on the ground.”