New York Times reporter Judith Miller walked out of a federal prison in Alexandria Virginia this afternoon a free woman.
WASHINGTON Sep 29, 2005 — After nearly three months behind bars, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was released from a federal prison Thursday after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the disclosure of the identity of a covert CIA officer, two people familiar with the case said.
Miller left the federal detention center in Alexandria, Va., after reaching an agreement with Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Legal sources said she would appear before a grand jury investigating the case Friday morning. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings.
The sources said Miller agreed to testify after securing an unconditional release from Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, to testify about any discussions they had involving CIA officer Valerie Plame.
Miller has been held at the federal detention facility since July 6. A federal judge ordered her jailed when she refused to testify before the grand jury investigating the alleged leak of CIA officer Plame’s name by White House officials.
…The federal grand jury delving into the matter expires Oct. 28. Miller would have been freed at that time, but prosecutors could have pursued a criminal contempt of court charge against the reporter if she continued to defy Fitzgerald.All indications are that Fitzgerald already knows everything she’s going to testify to. Fitzgerald indicated months ago that his case was complete, save for the testimony of Time Magazine’s Matthew Cooper and Miller.
Miller went to prison is because she maintained that the unconditional release signed by Scooter Libby (the old one not the new one) was signed under duress. I’m not sure how this new release is any different than the old one…
More on the Miller/Libby connection at JustOneMinute.
I did so ponder the fact that it was Hillary Clinton. You know, there’s still the possibility, in a freight-car effect sorta’ thing.
THE funniest picture of Judy Martyr Miller yet!
(And the best headline, too!)
I KNOW WHY THE JAILED BIRD SINGS,
9/29/05, by “TheHeretik”
It’ll be good to air this one out and move on.
Perhaps because the grand jury would have ended soon and she would disappear without a trace. THis gives her one last chance at some publicity.
Latest – after her testimony: Miller Speaks to Reporters After Testifying, Cites ‘Narrow Testimony’ as Key,
September 30, 2005 1:30 PM ET:
“…She reappeared shortly after 1 p.m., having arrived at the courtroom at 8:30 am. Miller said she had insisted on two things: a voluntary waiver from her source, and the promise of only having to give what she called “narrow testimony.” Looking a bit gaunt after 85 days in jail, Miller would not confirm that the source she had been protecting was I. Lewis Libby, even though her own paper has revealed that this is the case.”
(On 7/8/03 Libby did not name Plame to Miller. The next time they spoke, on 7/12/03 or 7/13/03, Cooper had already leaked it to Libby on 7/12/03, and Novak had already submitted his syndicated article on 7/11/03, so the news was out.)
From NY Times, 9/30/05:
“New details about the case have emerged in recent months. Karl Rove, the president’s senior political strategist, and Mr. Libby both discussed Ms. Wilson with reporters, according to testimony provided by Matthew Cooper, a Time magazine reporter, and by others. But neither White House official is known to have mentioned Ms. Wilson by name or to have mentioned her status at the C.I.A.“
Hmmm, I wanna know about Miller and Cooper’s other sources.
In case anyone wants a link to Matt Cooper’s admission that he leaked Plame’s name and CIA affiliation to Libby, it’s in the 7/17/05 transcript of Tim Russert’s interview of Cooper at MSNBC. (TM at JustOneMinute has verified Cooper’s leak to Libby occurred on 7/12/03, the day after Cooper tried to bait and trap Rove.)
Besides Joe Wilson, who gives a damn about Valerie Plame?