Glenn Beck Settles With Boston Bombing Victim

BOSTON (CN) - The student who Glenn Beck accused of financing the Boston Marathon bombing settled his defamation case before the conservative firebrand had to reveal his unnamed sources.

Abdulrahman Alharbi agreed Tuesday to end his case for an undisclosed settlement just weeks after Beck and his media company The Blaze defied a court order to reveal two sources within the federal government who Beck claims gave them information on Alharbi's supposed role in the bombing.

"No party has admitted any fault, wrongdoing, or responsibility as part of the settlement," a joint statement released by both parties states. "Defendants have agreed to settlement of the pending action in furtherance of fundamental principles of journalistic integrity by preserving the confidentiality of their sources consistent with their rights and privileges under the First Amendment. The plaintiff has pursued this action for the reasons set forth in his complaint and believes those interests have been served by this resolution."

In the week following the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon, Beck claimed several times that Alharbi, a Saudi Arabian student living in Revere, Mass., was the "money man" for the attack.

Alharbi was a spectator at the marathon that year, where he was injured in one of the bomb blasts. He was identified early in the post-attack investigation and was questioned by the FBI in his hospital room, but he cooperated with authorities and was quickly cleared of all suspected involvement immediately after.

Despite no charges, Beck spent the month after the bombing claiming that Alharbi gave the order for the bombing and paid for the materials involved.

Other media outlets also reported on Alharbi, but most only went as far as reporting that he was a person of interest or that he had been questioned by federal agents.

Later, then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before Congress that Alharbi was not involved in the attack in any way, describing his situation as being "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Beck claimed that his information came from two unnamed sources in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that were in contact with Beck's then-producer Joe Weasel.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris ordered Beck to reveal his sources after he failed to provide any documentation that supports his claims that Alharbi was involved in the marathon bombing.

Beck refused to reveal the sources despite Saris' offer to seal their identities and to allow depositions to be taken in a way that protected their identities.

Both sources, communicating to Beck's lawyers through their own independent counsels, said they were afraid that cooperating with the judge's orders would cost them their federal jobs.

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