Is Miller free of perjury charges by Fitz?
Posted by Judith at October 16, 2005 09:48 PMJudith,
I am rather disappointed that Fitzgerald let her get away with her tall tales. I don't know if he has any binding agreement with Miller and her lawyers but I would hope not.
One thing is clear, using her as a main witness could end up being risky for him.
Posted by eriposte at October 16, 2005 09:52 PMI don't think we can be so certain about what Judy claims she told Fitzgerald, particularly in the details, nor that her agreement with Fitz covers her ass if he catches her committing perjury, nor that he really needed her testimony any more.
Posted by Brian Bell at October 16, 2005 11:43 PMIt's been noted by several people that it's highly unlikely that Judith Miller would not remember who she got the Valerie Plame name from . After all, the outing of Valerie Plame became a big issue and the outing happened less than a week after the second meeting where Valerie Flame and Victoria Wilson appear in her notes and there was plenty of noise in the press for a couple weeks until the story died down for two months when it came back to life that September (when Miller denied to her editors that she might be one of the six reporters who had been told about Valerie Plame). She's supposed to be a hotshot reporter so one can't imagine her being dense or forgetful. So she knows who the name came from. It's probably Libby but I suppose it's possible she got it from one or two other sources (possibly in addition to Libby) before Robert Novak's article appeared.
But here's the real kicker. The same applies to Scooter Libby and Karl Rove. They are now facing the testimony of reporters saying either Rove or Libby mentioned Valerie Plame/Mrs. Wilson before Robert Novak's article appeared. If during their testimony to the grand jury they claimed forgetfulness, that they never discussed Valerie Plame/Mrs. Wilson with any reporters before Novak's article appeared, it puts them in big trouble since immediately after Novak's article there was a firestorm in the media of people pointing out that it was improper that two administration figures had outed a covert CIA. There's nothing like a possible legal problem to stir the memory only a week or two after the act. So if they denied involvement to the grand jury, as they did by way of denials to the press in 2003, they're in big trouble because the defense of not remembering isn't going to hold up.
In the end, the focus should stay on Rove and Libby. If Fitzgerald is investigating WHIG for some broader issues, then Condi Rice and Stephen Hadley and others may face problems. Ultimately, Bush and Cheney may face problems.
We're already seeing some legal issues revolving around paying reporters to write articles favorable to the administration (maybe Miller is not entirely off the hook!). It's also illegal to use federal agencies to lie to Congress as clearly happened in 2002 and early 2003 (including the State of the Union Address).
Cheney denies he was involved in sending someone to Niger. But Joe Wilson was not the only one who went. Two other missions were sent and both were negative. Who kept ordering these extra missions? Before Wilson was sent, the CIA was skeptical of the Niger/Iraq story, and the State Department's INR was also skeptical. It's likely the only ones with the authority to keep the CIA looking were Bush, Cheney and possibly Rumsfeld. It was probably Cheney, despite his angry denials. But the nervousness of the inner circle of the White House suggests that we can't overlook Bush.
Posted by Craig at October 17, 2005 12:38 AMEriposte, I hope not also. I thought there was a gag order on talking about testimony during GJ investigations. Judith is giving in details what she said, which allows all the players to know what she did and did not testify to.
Posted by Judith at October 17, 2005 04:30 AMBrian, I agree completely with you on that thought. All we have is what she said, and we know her word is of no value.
Posted by Judith at October 17, 2005 04:31 AMJudith,
There is no gag order on GJ witnesses. Go to Talk Left to find out more on this...
Craig,
I am focusing on Miller because she was an indirect participant of the WHIG. She holds more information on this issue than she has revealed.