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It means that she tried her best to cover for Libby, but her notes show she probably talked to him about Plame, and he most likely told her that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and in what part of the Agency Wilson's wife worked.
Judy Miller omits a lot of information, but it is clear that she was taking the administration's side in the struggle between the CIA and the administration to avoid taking responsibility for the "fixing" of the intelligence prior to the Iraq War.
Miller initiated the conversation with Libby and places it in the context not of harming Wilson, but of getting to the bottom of what the "errors" in the Iraq intelligence. I have been wondering whether she already had wind that the NYT was thinking about publishing Wilson's memo. If so, that would explain how Libby's statements would have been part of a broad campaign to punish Wilson by outing Plame.
Miller states:
. . . .
On the afternoon of June 23, 2003, I arrived at the Old Executive Office Building to interview Mr. Libby, who was known to be an avid consumer of prewar intelligence assessments, which were already coming under fierce criticism. The first entry in my reporter's notebook from this interview neatly captured the question foremost in my mind.
"Was the intell slanted?" I wrote, referring to the intelligence assessments of Iraq and underlining the word "slanted."
. . . .
My interview notes show that Mr. Libby sought from the beginning, before Mr. Wilson's name became public, to insulate his boss from Mr. Wilson's charges. According to my notes, he told me at our June meeting that Mr. Cheney did not know of Mr. Wilson, much less know that Mr. Wilson had traveled to Niger, in West Africa, to verify reports that Iraq was seeking to acquire uranium for a weapons program.
. . . .
Soon afterward Mr. Libby raised the subject of Mr. Wilson's wife for the first time. I wrote in my notes, inside parentheses, "Wife works in bureau?" I told Mr. Fitzgerald that I believed this was the first time I had been told that Mr. Wilson's wife might work for the C.I.A. The prosecutor asked me whether the word "bureau" might not mean the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Yes, I told him, normally. But Mr. Libby had been discussing the C.I.A., and therefore my impression was that he had been speaking about a particular bureau within the agency that dealt with the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. As to the question mark, I said I wasn't sure what it meant. Maybe it meant I found the statement interesting. Maybe Mr. Libby was not certain whether Mr. Wilson's wife actually worked there.
. . . .
The fact that Libby did not want to be known as a senior administration official but rather as a former Hill staffer suggests that he was trying to conceal his identity even more than usual. This suggests that he felt he was doing something wrong --- hiding his true identity more than usual indicates culpability.
Miller met with Libby again on July 8 for breakfast. Of that meeting, she says:
At that breakfast meeting, our conversation also turned to Mr. Wilson's wife. My notes contain a phrase inside parentheses: "Wife works at Winpac." Mr. Fitzgerald asked what that meant. Winpac stood for Weapons Intelligence, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Control, the name of a unit within the C.I.A. that, among other things, analyzes the spread of unconventional weapons.
. . . .
Looks like Libby was obsessing about Plame pretty early on, and he sure knew a lot about her. All in all, Miller's testimony and her interpretation of her notes has a rather contrived feeling -- contrived to protect Libby and protect other sources. The evidence clearly indicates that Libby was talking to Miller an awful lot about Plame and Wilson considering that Miller claims she was trying to find out what went wrong with the intelligence in Iraq. Miller's story doesn't compute. If indictments do come out, she will have a tough time in cross-examination. Her story is about as watertight as the New Orleans levees, and a good prosecutor is going to be able to pretty much destroy it on cross-examination. Considering that Miller admitted that the part of Libby's letter might have been to pressure her about testimony, it makes you wonder what other, perhaps stronger evidence there may be of obstruction of justice.
Interesting discussion about whether Miller still had security clearance when she talked to Libby. I wonder whether she had sources in the CIA or military or used her association with the group that was searching for WMDs in Iraq to get information about Plame? Maybe that is how she got the Plame name? If she still had clearance, could she be indicted for discussing the Plame information with journalists who did not have clearance? She could have been the source. All in all, Miller's discussion of her testimony raises more questions than it answers.
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