So We Still Don't Know Who First Leaked It to Judy Miller --->>>

[Stephanie]

She just can't remember...

Miller’s decision, in late September, to leave jail after eighty-five days and testify before Fitzgerald’s grand jury presumably was not what the Times had in mind. Skeptics at the paperthink that the rigors of jail, combined with the urging of Miller’s personal lawyer, Robert Bennett, in favor of a deal, wore down her resistance. Miller explained that she had decided to testify because Libby had convinced her that he was sincere in releasing her from a promise to keep him anonymous. But, by Miller’s own account, another important reason for her testimony was that Fitzgerald had agreed to ask her only about Libby, and no other source, when she appeared before the grand jury.

The agreement left Miller an opening to say that she couldn’t remember who had first mentioned Valerie Plame’s name to her. What could Fitzgerald do at that point? Time was running out for his grand jury, and he could ask Miller only about Libby. Thus Miller was able to protect whichever of her sources—maybe Libby, maybe somebody else—who had first mentioned the name Valerie Plame. While Miller was in jail, Libby sent her a lyrical, cryptic letter in which he wrote about the aspens out West, connected at the roots, and urged her to “come back to work—and life.” He seemed to be indicating that, in Cheney’s circle, she would be accorded a loyalty that she might no longer be able to expect from the Times.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/051107fa_fact

[dennis4868]

1. Yesterday.....

Russert on MTP said it was Rove. He said in a way like he was not suppose to have said it because afterwards he had this look on his face.

[Stephanie]

2. And how would he know that?

[Ian David]

3. Could Judy Miller have been paid by a foreign government?

In other words, could she have been a foreign spy?

What about Novak?

[sundancekid]

4. I put my little $ on Bolton as her first source ... his jail visit and all

plus I have speculated that the infamous "aspens are turning etc. ... and connected at the roots" could mean that Fitz was forced to turn his investigation away from the other neo-cons (Cheney, Bolton, Hannah, Hadley, Fleitz, et al) because the neo-cons stayed tied together and did not squeal ... I don't think her "roots" are so tied to the Rovester; her roots are tied to the neocons at Pentagon and State.

Just my 2-1/2 cents.

[Stephanie]

6. My money's on Dick.

That's why she sat in jail - afraid to rat Dick out.

[FreedomAngel82]

8. Bolton could've been going for someone else

Know what I mean? I don't think we know what they talked about so Bolton could've been going on behalf of someone else.

[Marie26]

5. We still don't know Novak's source either

After all this, we still don't know who first leaked the name to Novak & started this whole thing.

[Stephanie]

7. Wasn't it Rove?

Isn't he "Official A" in the indictment?

[Garbo 2004]

9. Rove was Novak's second confirming source. This has been known.

He did the "you heard it too" thing with Novak, IIRC. Official A is Rove.

Novak already had the tip from a first source. Much speculation over who that was. Some speculate that it was Ari Fleischer. Novak had called him during the critical timeframe, but so far I don't think there's been mention if Fleischer returned the call and if so, what they discussed.

[Stephanie]

10. ok thanks

It seems like they went to the bottom of the barrel with Novak. They floated it to NY Times, Newsweek, etc. and got no bites, so they went with the Columnist of Last Resort, who bit.

[Marie26]

11. Yeah,

but Rove has said that he only confirmed it after Novak called him with info about Valerie Plame's CIA identity. He said something like "oh, I've heard that too." Novak already had the leaked info from another source. The indictment says: "On July 10 or 11... Official A advised Libby of a conversation he had earlier that week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson's wife was discussed as a CIA agent involved in Wilson's trip." It looks like Novak first got the info from a different source, then discussed it with Rove before July 10, then Rove spread the info to another reporter, Matthew Cooper. But who was Novak's original source? It seems like this source isn't named anywhere in the indictment. (Unless I'm completely misunderstanding this - very possible!)