Jackson Free Press

The Times finally published its own story about the Plame-gate saga, which examines what Miller was told and when by the administration — as well as the anger inside the newsroom at the way the newspaper handled the story of a White House that would out a U.S. covert agent in order to help cover up its own WMD lies. The biggest bombshell is that Miller had the words "Valerie Flame" in her notebook indicating that Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, likely did tell her the name of the agent. The story raises the question of how far she went to cover this up until now, as well as possible pressure the White House put on her to lie about it. She writes in a piece she wrote that will appear in the Sunday Times:

When I was last before the grand jury, Mr. Fitzgerald posed a series of questions about a letter I received in jail last month from Mr. Libby. The letter, two pages long, encouraged me to testify. "Your reporting, and you, are missed," it begins.

The prosecutor asked my reaction to those words. I replied that this portion of the letter had surprised me because it might be perceived as an effort by Mr. Libby to suggest that I, too, would say we had not discussed Ms. Plame's identity. Yet my notes suggested that we had discussed her job.

Miller also admits that her reporting about WMD was bad—because it was based on sources who were misleading her in order to justify the war:

"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."

Previous Comments

ID

171869

Comment

I am utterly fascinated by these revelations, because they provide another confirmation of how the media utterly failed us in this last presidential election. Now we know that both Time and the NYT knew that Libby and possibly Rove were responsible for leaking Plame's name and neither one of them reported on it. You can tell from reading the NYT piece that the newsroom was on the verge of revolution, and they are not kind to Miller. She does not, from what I've read, deserve any kindness. She could have testified a year ago but she didn't because she thought it would lead to an indictment against Libby. She says she felt pressure from Libby, but he did grant her the waiver, even if it was coerced. She buried news to grandstand on principle. That's not good journalism.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2005-10-16T13:19:55-06:00

ID

171870

Comment

but they reward bad journalism -- look what they gave her: On Sept. 29, Ms. Miller was released from jail and whisked by Mr. Sulzberger and Mr. Keller to the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown for a massage, a manicure, a martini and a steak dinner. The next morning, she testified before the grand jury for three hours. Afterward, Ms. Miller declared that her ordeal was a victory for journalists and the public. ---- this whole thing makes me so angry, but i'm glad they're finally taking the microscope to themselves. she should have been gone after her WMD slip-ups if you ask me.

Author

casey

Date

2005-10-18T13:17:24-06:00