The Miller Case: From a Name on a Pad to Jail, and Back - NYT

[WillyT]

By DON VAN NATTA Jr., ADAM LIPTAK and CLIFFORD J. LEVY
Published: October 16, 2005

Is this the big piece we've been hearing about???

<snip>

In a notebook belonging to Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times, amid notations about Iraq and nuclear weapons, appear two small words: "Valerie Flame."

Ms. Miller should have written Valerie Plame. That name is at the core of a federal grand jury investigation that has reached deep into the White House. At issue is whether Bush administration officials leaked the identity of Ms. Plame, an undercover C.I.A. operative, to reporters as part of an effort to blunt criticism of the president's justification for the war in Iraq.

Ms. Miller spent 85 days in jail for refusing to testify and reveal her confidential source, then relented. On Sept. 30, she told the grand jury that her source was I. Lewis Libby, the vice president's chief of staff. But she said he did not reveal Ms. Plame's name.

And when the prosecutor in the case asked her to explain how "Valerie Flame" appeared in the same notebook she used in interviewing Mr. Libby, Ms. Miller said she "didn't think" she heard it from him. "I said I believed the information came from another source, whom I could not recall," she wrote on Friday, recounting her testimony for an article that appears today.

<snip>

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/national/16leak.html?hp&ex=1129435200&en=ae9961705f60a5d9&ei=5094&partner=homepage

I thought she was gonna be writing part of it. Maybe there's more coming.

:shrug:

[TimeToGo]

1. Gee

That's kind uf underwhelming.

[WillyT]

2. Only Part Way Through, But This Seems To Be The NYT Explanation...

for the Miller\Plame\etc. stuff.

:shrug:

[OKNancy]

3. Here is Miller's story

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/national/16miller.html

:puke:

[WillyT]

5. Thanks... I Think...

:hi:

[MADem]

13. She's shielding CHENEY, I think

She better hope she isn't being a bit too clever, here....

[writes2000]

19. Thanks. Libby is SCREWED. Add Obstruction to Justice...

to his list of crimes.

Interesting first person account. I need to digest it before I fully decide on Judy.

[Marie26]

22. Name game

She's just out-and out lying here: "It is also difficult, more than two years later, to parse the meaning and context of phrases, of underlining and of parentheses. On one page of my interview notes, for example, I wrote the name "Valerie Flame." Yet, as I told Mr. Fitzgerald, I simply could not recall where that came from, when I wrote it or why the name was misspelled. I testified that I did not believe the name came from Mr. Libby..." :eyes:

So, why would she scribble the name "Valerie Flame" if it wasn't from Libby? How did she get this name? I think this has to be significant, because Miller makes such pains to say that Novak leaked the agent's name as PLAME. -"My notes do not show that Mr. Libby identified Mr. Wilson's wife by name. Nor do they show that he described Valerie Wilson as a covert agent or "operative," as the conservative columnist Robert D. Novak first described her in a syndicated column published on July 14, 2003. (Mr. Novak used her maiden name, Valerie Plame.)"

It's almost like she's saying - See? The leak couldn't possibly be traced to ME - I used a different last name! I don't think Flame can be a simple misspelling - many newspaper accounts also listed the agent as "Valerie Flame." After a later interview w/Libby, Miller writes the name as "Victoria Wilson." This has to be significant. Maybe different orginizations knew her by different names - the White House knew her as Wilson/Plame; and another organization knew her as "Valerie Flame". Miller's actual source would be this organization. Does anyone know anything about this? Was "Flame" the agent's undercover name? Is there some reason for the different names?

And I love this part: "Mr. Fitzgerald asked if I could recall discussing the Wilson-Plame connection with other sources. I said I had, though I could not recall any by name or when those conversations occurred...I told Mr. Fitzgerald I believed that before (Libby's Jul 12) call, I might have called others about Mr. Wilson's wife." She's basically admitting that she was spreading information about Wilson's wife to her sources & "other people". These calls she "might have" made before July 12 fit perfectly into the time-frame for Novak's July 14 article. She was probably the one who told Novak, Rove, & who knows who else. Doesn't this make her just as responsible for the "outing" of Plame's identity? Why is this woman still on the New York Times payroll?

[Garbo 2004]

28. Plame was out in the open regarding her name as an employee of Brewster,

Jennings. When she married Wilson she took his last name.

Judy's notes apparently are as sloppy as her reporting...and amazingly poor memory.

[H2O Man]

23. Thanks!

I just printed it off, and am going to read it now. I appreciate that you made this available.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. "W.M.D. - I got it totally wrong," she said.

"The analysts, the experts and the journalists who covered them - we were all wrong. If your sources are wrong, you are wrong. I did the best job that I could."


Gee Judy, so you got it totally wrong. What should we tell the families of the over 100,000 Iraqis who have been killed because you got it wrong?

[MADem]

6. She even got the damn name wrong, VALERIE FLAME, indeed!

Sloppy reportage...what ever happened to COULD YOU SPELL THAT, PLEASE?

Valerie Flame, sounds like a stripper name! Oi vey~!

[KansDem]

7. No, Judy. There were plenty of analysts and experts who "got it right"

You chose not to listen to them. You chose to ignore them. Instead, you went with the Bushistas. They got it wrong. Totally wrong.

[FreedomAngel82]

25. Yep

Remember all those generals who told Bush he was wrong Judy? Nahhh. :eyes:

[Marie26]

27. But Miller didn't just report, she helped create the threat

I think it's significant that Miller decided not to publish a story about Wilson, who debunked the nuclear hype, yet made sure to publish story after story about the dangerous Iraqi "WMDS". She had an agenda. And although Miller didn't report on Wilson, she made sure to spread all classified info about his wife's identity. She was acting like an agent of the Bush Administration. Miller didn't "get it wrong" - she "MADE it wrong" by spreading false info & overhyped stories that would fool the American public.

[MADem]

8. Well, that sure as hell ain't a love letter to Judy!!!

Neither The Times nor its cause has emerged unbruised. Three courts, including the Supreme Court, declined to back Ms. Miller. Critics said The Times was protecting not a whistle-blower but an administration campaign intended to squelch dissent. The Times's coverage of itself was under assault: While the editorial page had crusaded on Ms. Miller's behalf, the news department had more than once been scooped on the paper's own story, even including the news of Ms. Miller's release from jail.

Asked what she regretted about The Times's handling of the matter, Jill Abramson, a managing editor, said: "The entire thing."

A Divisive Newsroom Figure

...When no evidence was found, her reporting, along with that of some other journalists, came under fire. She was accused of writing articles that helped the Bush administration make its case for war.

"I told her there was unease, discomfort, unhappiness over some of the coverage," said Roger Cohen, who was foreign editor at the time. "There was concern that she'd been convinced in an unwarranted way, a way that was not holding up, of the possible existence of W.M.D."...

Yeah, she makes Jayson Blair look like a Pulitzer Prize nominee!

[texpatriot2004]

9. Judy Miller is a liar and a traitor and the NYT is complicit. nm

[Spazito]

10. What a friggin crock!

The only confusion I have after reading this long, relatively empty of substance article is which lies to classify as 'grand mal' ones and which ones should be listed under 'petite mal' obfuscations.

One thing that became even more crystal clear is Miller's humongous ego and that, in her alternate reality, she is both a hero and a victim. Geez, I have a strong urge to :puke: after reading this.

[ray of light]

12. why is that lady's ear's plugged?

[MADem]

14. Nutty right wing radio jerk, not wanting to hear truth from Randi Rhodes n

[Spazito]

15. LOL, because Randi Rhodes was trying to educate her with facts

She is Janet Parshall, a right wing radio talking head. She and Randi were on CSPAN for an hour and poor Janet couldn't handle the truth ergo the fingers in her ears.

[ray of light]

18. Was Rhandi being abusive or something?

[Spazito]

21. roflmao, quite the opposite, Janet was acting like the POS she is

and Randi didn't let her get away with it. Poor Janet couldn't handle a liberal not letting a repub spewing talking head talk over her and was able to give it back, it was an absolute hoot. Randi decimated her over the hour.

Janet is the poster child for the repubs, if the truth is spoken, cover your ears so you can't be tainted with it and forget your talking points.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. Looks like Judy is planning to take some time off

"She also plans on taking some time off but says she hopes to return to the newsroom."


Yeah, Judy that the ticket. Time for a vacation. Maybe out west where the Aspens are turning?

[MADem]

16. Return to the newsroom, as the cleaning lady, maybe?

I wouldn't trust her around trashcans of shredded notes. She has NO CREDIBILITY anymore. And I sense her fellow reporters are not at all sorry to see her discomfiture...

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. Couldn't happen to a more deserving witch

n/t

[napi21]

24. Yep! I copied that same clip! That's where the "might leave" came from.

On Tuesday, Ms. Miller is to receive a First Amendment award from the Society of Professional Journalists. She said she thought she would write a book about her experiences in the leak case, although she added that she did not yet have a book deal. She also plans on taking some time off but says she hopes to return to the newsroom.

She said she hopes to cover "the same thing I've always covered - threats to our country."



I still have to read the other article that Judy wrote with here own explaination. It seems to me that even here coworkers think she's nuts!

I also have a curious impression about the supposed slip of "valerie Flame". I'd bet Ftiz does too! Could that be shorthand for "Flame Valerie"????

[UTUSN]

20. Whoa, Sounds Like the NYT Would Like to Be Rid of Her

"Miss Run Amok" indeed (what she called herself). Throughout this piece her NYT colleagues portray her as stinking up the place.

[SillyGoose]

26. After reading both articles, I think Miller is full of it and not being

truthful with her readers. And if what's contained in these two articles is what she told the GJ, I don't think she was truthful with them either.

Mr. Fitzgerald asked me about another entry in my notebook, where I had written the words "Valerie Flame," clearly a reference to Ms. Plame. Mr. Fitzgerald wanted to know whether the entry was based on my conversations with Mr. Libby. I said I didn't think so. I said I believed the information came from another source, whom I could not recall.

I am supposed to believe that a reporter of her supposed reputation just cannot recall who her source is for this explosive piece of information? Come on.

These self-aggrandizing articles about Miller are an insult to the intelligence of the readers of the NYT. If they value their credibility in the news business they'll can her. This is bullsh*

[WillyT]

29. Just Gotta Love BuzzFlash, LOL !!! - Their Headline For NYT\Miller Story !

Bill Keller's "Ace Reporter," Judith Miller, Claims She Can't Remember Who Told Her the Name of a CIA Operative. That's Some "Ace Reporter." In a Surprisingly Interesting Article from the NYT, the Publisher and Editor Look Like Dupes. Reading Between the Lines, Judith Miller Looks Like a Collabarator with Scooter Libby -- Who Sent Signals About HIS Testimony and Cooing Words to Her -- Trying to Hide Behind a Journalistic Shield of Protection. Still many, many unanswered questions in the article, but it's as thorough as the NYT is going to get. It doesn't answer the major question: "Why Hasn't She Been Fired and Why Does She Seem to be Free to be an Independent Operator?"

Link: http://www.buzzflash.com/