With Judith Miller out of jail the case nears its completion
New York Times reporter Judith Miller was released from jail after finally agreeing to testify before a grand jury about the Valerie Plame case. Her agreement with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald came after her source, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, agreed to waive the confidentiality agreement ():
"It's good to be free. I wentto jail to preserve the time-honored principle that a journalist mustrespect a promise not to reveal the identity of a confidential source.. . . I am leaving jail today because my source has now voluntarily andpersonally released me from my promise of confidentiality regarding ourconversations relating to the Wilson-Plame matter."
Her appearance in court should worry Scooter Libby and Karl Rove who, according to many analysts, are at the center of the investigation over a CIA agent whose identity was intentionally outed. Here were the course of events that led up to Judith Miller's release, as described in a :
The agreement that led to Ms. Miller's release followed intensenegotiations among her; her lawyer, Robert Bennett; Mr. Libby's lawyer,Joseph Tate; and Mr. Fitzgerald.
The talks began with atelephone call from Mr. Bennett to Mr. Tate in late August. Ms. Millerspoke with Mr. Libby by telephone this month as their lawyers listened,according to people who have been briefed on the case. It was then thatMr. Libby told Ms. Miller that she had his personal and voluntarywaiver.
The discussions were at times strained, with Mr. Libbyand Mr. Tate's asserting that they communicated their voluntary waiverto another lawyer for Ms. Miller, Floyd Abrams, more than year ago,according to those briefed on the case.
Other people involvedin the case have said Ms. Miller did not understand that the waiver hadbeen freely given and did not accept it until she had heard from Mr.Libby directly.
Ms. Miller authorized her lawyers to seekfurther clarification from Mr. Libby's representatives in late August,after she had been in jail for more than a month. Mr. Libby wrote toMs. Miller in mid-September saying he believed that her lawyersunderstood during discussions last year that his waiver was voluntary.
On Sept. 16, Mr. Tate wrote to Mr. Fitzgerald saying his conversationswith Mr. Abrams last year were meant to assure Ms. Miller that a broadwaiver that Mr. Libby signed in late 2003 was not coerced and appliedspecifically to Ms. Miller.
On Thursday, Mr. Abrams wrote to Mr. Tate disputing parts of Mr.Tate's account. His letter said although Mr. Tate had said the waiverwas voluntary, Mr. Tate had also said any waiver sought as a conditionof employment was inherently coercive.
Mr. Tate said in aninterview on Thursday, "Her lawyers were provided with a waiver that wesaid was voluntary more than a year ago." Mr. Abrams would not discussthe question in a brief telephone conversation on Thursday.
Aspart of the agreement, Mr. Bennett gave Mr. Fitzgerald edited versionsof notes taken by Ms. Miller about her conversations with Mr. Libby.
In statements on Thursday, Ms. Miller and executives of The Times didnot identify the source who had urged Ms. Miller to testify. BillKeller, the executive editor, said Mr. Fitzgerald had assured Ms.Miller's lawyer that "he intended to limit his grand jury interrogationso that it would not implicate other sources of hers."
Ms. Miller's lawyers had sought such an assurance as a condition of her testimony.
Mr. Keller said Mr. Fitzgerald cleared the way to an agreement byassuring Ms. Miller and her source that he would not regard aconversation between the two about a possible waiver as an obstructionof justice.
We will probably get an announcement by mid-October from the grand jury, since Fitzgerald is basically done with the investigation. I just wonder whether Bush would have the guts to pardon Rove or Libby if they get charged. Wouldn't that be something?
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