Judy – give us a break!

The Times and Judy Miller have finally made statements. The tales are not the earth-shattering crescendos they hoped for and have actually raised more doubts about the veracity of their stories. From reading the reports, it seems the following assumptions are likely:

Miller and Libby met three times in the summer of 2003. At each of those meetings, they discussed Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife. The notebook that she used to document her meetings with Libby contained the name “Valerie Flame”. Miller stated that she did not think she had gotten the name from Libby, saying she couldn't recall who gave her the name. Sure!! Here we have a top, hard hitting investigative reporter from the NYT that cannot remember who gave her a non-official cover CIA agents' name. Why was it in her Libby book? It's because Libby gave it to her, she still appears to be covering for him.

Libby wrote to Miller while she was in jail, "I believed a year ago, as now, that testimony by all will benefit all. ... The public report of every other reporter's testimony makes clear that they did not discuss Ms. Plame's name or identity with me." The Vice Presidents' Chief of Staff, Lewis Libby tried to influence Judy Miller's testimony.

In the summer of 2003, the CIA and White House were battling to shift responsibility for the Weapons of Mass Destruction fiasco. Since Miller, a pliable administration mouthpiece, was helpful to them before during the run up to war, she was contacted by Libby again. She would be used to help discredit Ambassador Joseph Wilson, his wife, and by association the CIA. Ambassador Wilson had contended that the White House manipulated and exaggerated intelligence regarding the Iraqi nuclear weapons program. Were Wilson to be believed, the main reason for invading Iraq would have been undercut, de-legitimizing all of the administration's reasons for the war. Judy also had a vested interest in discrediting Wilson. If what he said was true, her prior reporting, widely criticized, would be clearly viewed as bogus. Plame's identity was leaked by the White House to undercut her husband's credibility and Miller went along.

When reporting her meetings with Libby, Miller agreed to refer to her source (Libby) as a “former Hill staffer” rather than a “Senior Administration Official” as she had done previously. "I agreed to the new ground rules because I knew that Mr. Libby had once worked on Capitol Hill," Miller said. "I assumed Mr. Libby did not want the White House to be seen as attacking Mr. Wilson." Judy Miller entered into a conspiracy with Lewis Libby to further disguise his conversations about Valerie Plame.

During one of their two hour breakfast meetings in July 2003, two days after Wilson's opinion column had appeared in the Times, Libby "proceeded through a lengthy and sharp critique of Mr. Wilson and what Mr. Libby viewed as the CIA's backpedaling on the intelligence leading to war.” "Although I was interested primarily in my area of expertise — chemical and biological weapons — my notes show that Mr. Libby consistently steered our conversation back to the administration's nuclear claims," Miller wrote Sunday in The Times. “His main theme echoed that of other senior officials: that contrary to Mr. Wilson's criticism, the administration had had ample reason to be concerned about Iraq's nuclear capabilities based on the regime's history of weapons development, its use of unconventional weapons and fresh intelligence reports," she said. Judy Miller took this information and reported it – without any apparent fact checking. Miller did not do her job.

Let's not forget that Plame-Gate is just one part of the Miller saga, after the Iraqi invasion and the failed search for WMD's, Miller would find everyone else at fault – not herself. Being blind to truth and totally self-serving, she, more than any other reporter, pumped the WMD scares and intelligence reports from the Bushies and their lying Iraqi con-men. The hysteria amongst Americans and Congress was largely influenced by Miller's stories. Used by the government and also using them, Miller has blood on her hands.

So does the New York Times.