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Is Rove Now Implicating Judith Miller?

By Jeralyn, Section Valerie Plame Leak Case
Posted on Sun Jul 17, 2005 at 04:05:23 PM EST
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Remember the other day when a lawyer-source said Rove learned about Valerie Plame Wilson's identity from a reporter? That's changed a bit today.

A lawyer familiar with Rove's grand jury testimony said Sunday that Rove learned about the CIA officer either from the media or from someone in government who said the information came from a journalist. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because the federal investigation is continuing. (my emphasis.)

Shorter version: Rove heard it from Libby or someone else on Cheney's staff who heard it from Judith Miller.

I think this is consistent with what Libby told Fitzgerald....that he heard it from Judith Miller, maybe on July 8 when they met in D.C. But, is that really true, or did it happen the other way around? [See this Newsday article mentioning Miller's DC meeting with an "unnamed government official, it's my speculation it was Libby.]

And, if Miller told Libby, where did she learn it? Did someone leak a classified document to her that contained the information?

Libby is not only Cheney's Chief of Staff, but his advisor on national security issues as well. It's a little hard to believe he wouldn't have seen a classified document with the Plame information in it. Maybe everyone in the White House Iraq Group saw it. And where's John Hannah been lately?

[Note: Since this source says he's familiar with Rove's testimony, not that he's reviewed Rove's grand jury transcript, I assume this is someone associated with Rove's criminal defense lawyer, Robert Luskin, as opposed to a Government lawyer source.]

< Cooper and Libby Old News: Miller and Libby is the Question | From the Vanity Fair Article on Joseph Wilson >

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    Is Rove Now Implicating Judith Miller? | 3 comments (3 topical)
    Re: Is Rove Now Implicating Judith Miller? (none / 0) (#1)
    by DonS on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:19 PM EST
    Is it too early to remind all those defenders of a free press -- and that paragon of that prinicple, Ms. Miller -- that whilst they were off beating the drum for the fourth estate, it is probable that very large crimes were being committed by those self same press. Discrimination, the royal virtue, should apply here. Just because someone calls themselves a journalist does not mean they are entitled to all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. We are, or should be, as much concerned about saving the republic as saving Judith Miller's derriere which, if truth be told, has self-serving written all over it.

    Re: Is Rove Now Implicating Judith Miller? (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:19 PM EST
    Maybe I've missed it, but I'm kind of surprised more attention isn't being paid to this comment from Howard Fineman in todays Newsweek article Rove at War : How do you publicly counter a guy like that[Wilson]? As "senior adviser," Rove would be involved in finding out. Technically, Rove was in charge of politics, not "communications." But, as he saw it, the two were one and the same—and he used his heavyweight status to push the message machine run by his Texas protegé and friend, Dan Bartlett. Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was sent out to trash the Wilson op-ed. "Zero, nada, nothing new here," he said. Then, on a long Bush trip to Africa, Fleischer and Bartlett prompted clusters of reporters to look into the bureaucratic origins of the Wilson trip. How did the spin doctors know to cast that lure? One possible explanation: some aides may have read the State Department intel memo, which Powell had brought with him aboard Air Force One. Fineman goes on to mention that there was another classified document that was on Airforce One, a briefing book that was hurriedly prepared for Rice for her impending Sunday morning talk rounds as soon as she returned from the Africa trip that may also have had information about Valerie Wilson. My main point is that the comment in bold really opens up the conspiracy aspect. Fleischer and Bartlett out pushing reporters towards the story. This would begin to bring down half the administration, no wonder Bush has to stand by Rove. I have not seen reports of the story having been indirectly pushed on Airforce One before. If this is old, please someone tell me. It strikes me as one more aspect of this case that, clearly, many reporters have known about and been sitting on for two years.

    Re: Is Rove Now Implicating Judith Miller? (none / 0) (#3)
    by theologicus on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:19 PM EST
    Just because someone calls themselves a journalist ,,, doesn't mean they're merely a journalist. As the plot thickens, it's worth remembering that JM was a conduit for high-rollers within the War Party as well as for none other than Chalabi. Are we witnessing the Great Unravelling? Or will it end not with a bang but a whimper?

    Is Rove Now Implicating Judith Miller? | 3 comments (3 topical)