Raw Story reports that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is examining what role, if any, Vice President Dick Cheney had in the leaking Valerie Plame's identity or discrediting Joseph Wilson.

Does this mean Fitzgerald will ask for an extension of the grand jury? If he does, the grand jury would have another six months. He could also convene a new grand jury and transfer the case to it, in which case, the new term would be another 18 months. If he were to convene a new grand jury, that would be extremely fortunate for the White House and Republicans. Another 18 months to investigate could delay Indictments past the 2006 elections. [Edited to reflect difference between an extended grand jury and a new grand jury]

Ok, it's time for Bill Keller to pony up. Editor and Publisher reports:

Judith Miller's second appearance before the grand jury probing the Plame/CIA leak case on Wednesday lasted only a little more than an hour but it was enough to earn a judge's order releasing The New York Times reporter from the contempt-of-court citation that landed her in jail. The order was still in place until her testimony was complete.

Besides liberating Miller, it also means The New York Times can no longer cite that order as a roadblock to keep it from presenting a full accounting of related matters. "I am delighted that the contempt order has been lifted, and Judy is now completely free to go about her great reporting as a very principled and honorable reporter," said Robert Bennett, one of Miller's attorneys.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Apparently feeding off the breast milk of Tom DeLay, WSJ's John Fund was caught on MSNBC's Chris Matthews repeating DeLay's own "cherry picked" statistics of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earl's track record of prosecuting public officials, as noted by MediaMatters.org:

by Last Night in Little Rock

The press is beginning to hit us with fears of a bird flu pandemic as noted virtually everywhere: NY Times, WashPo, Chicago Tribune, and CNN.com. Each source has more than one article everyday now as the fear grows.

Moveon.org has a post calling the nation's bird flu czar unqualified for anything in public health.

by TChris

Until recently, potential jurors were summoned to court in Indiana by selecting names from voter registration lists. That selection method failed to provide a representative cross-section of the community, given the reality that so many people don't bother to vote. Among other problems, the selection process contributed to a lack of racial diversity on juries. And jury pools chosen from voter registration lists tend to skew toward older, retired jurors who have time to go to the polls.

Last month, taxpayer records, drivers' license, and state ID records were added to the lists from which potential jurors are chosen in Indiana.

TalkLeft's sympathies and best thoughts go out today to Los Angeles Attorney Robert Shapiro. Page Six reports:

WE extend our condolences to O.J. Simpson lawyer Robert Shapiro on the loss of his son. Brent Edward Shapiro, 24, died Monday afternoon after an apparent drug overdose. Sources say Brent attended a football game over the weekend and ingested some ecstasy at a party. His girlfriend found him unconscious and took him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. Authorities confirmed he died of a drug overdose and the family has consented to a toxicology screen. Calls to Shapiro's office were not returned.

What a nightmare. The TL kid is 24, and most of my friends' kids are about that age. It's something we all worry about and just keep our fingers crossed they either take a pass or know their limits. To Bob, my sincerest condolences. I feel for you, and my thoughts are with you in this difficult time. For those of you going to temple tomorrow on Yom Kippur, say a prayer for Brent, Bob and the entire Shapiro family.

Update: News article here.

Update: 4:30 pm. CNN has changed the headline to "Times reporter details previously undisclosed conversation." Were they reading us blogs today? I know Atrios and War and Piece spotted it as well. And I did get an e-mail saying TalkLeft was mentioned on the CNN blog segment.

On a related note, Arianna weighs in on Miller's second grand jury appearance in Judy, Take Two.

***********
Original Post:

I have re-read this CNN article three times and cannot find a statement in it to back up the headline, "New York Times reporter disclosed conversation with second source." Maybe it's a typo that meant to read, "New York Times reporter disclosed second conversation with source."

An Indonesian Appeals Court has cut Schapelle Corby's 20 year sentence imposed for importing 4 kilos of pot into Bali, a charge she has claimed she is innocent of, from 20 years to 15 years. Her family is devastated.

Corby's sister said her family was devastated by the appeal court's decision. "She didn't do it. She should be free," Mercedes Corby said. "I was expecting the Australian government to do something. We're not happy in this sentence and we will appeal immediately."

Her lawyer also complains:

by TChris

The Air Force Academy, after being sued for proselytizing cadets, announced that it rescinded an obviously unconstitutional “code of ethics [for chaplains] that endorsed the practice of evangelizing military service members who are not affiliated with any specific religion.”

The code of ethics - issued by the Air Force Chaplain Service in January 2005 - includes the statement: "I will not actively proselytize from other religious bodies. However, I retain the right to instruct and/or evangelize those who are not affiliated."

Unaffected by the Academy’s action is a similar code of ethics authored by the “National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces, a private organization of religious bodies that provides chaplains to all of the military services.”

by TChris

Dana Milbank observes that the president, particularly when confronted with uncomfortable questions (and what questions in his disastrous fifth year aren’t uncomfortable?), has been fidgeting like a grade school kid with a serious attention deficit problem.

[D]uring Bush's 14-minute pre-sunrise interview [with Matt Lauer] … [t]he president was a blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts. Bush has always been an active man, but standing with Lauer and the serene, steady first lady, he had the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere.

by TChris

The mayor of Colorado Springs refuses to support a program that matches volunteer mental health counselors with soldiers who served in Iraq because, he says, the program’s supporters are “anti-war” and “anti-Army.” The two men who organized the program both served in Iraq. What’s anti-Army about their desire to help soldiers cope with the stress and trauma of war?

The mayor initially supported the program, but later flip-flopped.

by TChris

Bill Frist apparently hasn't given up his dream of running for president, as evidenced by this "exploratory meeting with local power brokers" in Miami. While he's on the campaign trail, he'll have plenty of opportunities to explain his ethical missteps.

Investigators are already questioning Frist's suspiciously timed stock sale, which occurred despite his assurances that his family stock was held in a blind trust so as not to influence his Senate votes. The trust wasn't as blind as he wanted voters to believe, but now the AP reveals that his brother controlled a family investment partnership that accumulated HCA stock. Frist owns a share of that partership and earned more than a quarter million dollars from it over a recent four year period.