LOS ANGELES (AP) — A U.S. State Department spokesman says CNN reported on the personal journal of slain American ambassador Christopher Stevens over objections from his family.

The news channel posted in a story online Saturday that it found a journal belonging to Stevens four days after he died in a Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

State Department spokesman Philippe Reines says CNN broke a pledge to the late ambassador’s family that it wouldn’t report on the diary. Reines is a senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

He called CNN’s actions “indefensible.” CNN did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The channel said in the story online that it took “newsworthy tips” from Stevens’ diary and confirmed them with other sources.

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