Courtesy of Robert A. George:
10.04.2005
The True Miller's Tale? (12 comments )
Now that Judith Miller has been sprung – and reportedly about to cash in big time for her difficult time in jail, let's revisit those"Two Tense Weeks in July." When I posted this extended timeline a few weeks ago, it produced some perplexity. So, open up the timeline in another window and compare and contrast as we take another trip down memory lane in July, 2003.
Well, the reports on what Miller has told Patrick Fitzgerald helps fill in some more of the dots of this interesting intergovernmental/international/judicial flap. The Washington Post says:Libby had a second conversation with Miller on July 12 or July 13, the source said, in which he said he had learned that Wilson's wife had a role in sending him on the trip and that she worked for the CIA. Libby never knew Plame's name or that she was a covert operative, the source said.
This is interesting, because if we go back to our timeline tracking the furious developments that were going on in both the U.S. and the U.K., we note that July 12, 2003, was the one of the two days not really accounted for in previous news stories. In between the first and second times Miller and Libby spoke, the following things occurred:
- On July 9, in the UK, Blair's government has orchestrated the outing of scientist David Kelly as the source of BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan's explosive report that the Blair government "sexed-up" its Iraq intelligence dossier. In the U.S., Robert Novak talks with Karl Rove (Wilson's op-ed had appeared three days before).
- On July 11, George Tenet releases a statement asserting that the "16 words" about yellowcake uranium shouldn't have been in the president's State of the Union address. The same day, Karl Rove talks to Matt Cooper about, among other things, Joseph Wilson and his wife.
Which makes The Post's conclusion somewhat odd. In the original story posted on the Web, Friday, September 30, the paper's final paragraph reads:
"Miller's role had been one of the great mysteries in the leak probe. It is unclear why she emerged as a central figure in the probe despite not writing a story about the case."
In the full story in Saturday's paper, that passage is no longer there. Instead, there is the less speculative: "Miller never wrote an article on the matter."
Yet, even editing out the earlier passage, the question hangs in the air: Why was Miller behind bars for three months concerning sources to a story which that she never wrote about?
The answer is obvious: Judith Miller emerged as a central figure because she MADE herself a central figure and, arguably, BECAUSE she didn't "writ[e] a story about the case." This is the Judith Miller who, four days later, wrote words of encouragement to British scientist David Kelly: "David, I heard from another member of your fan club that things went well for you today. Hope it's true, J."
These don't seem like the words of a disinterested journalist. These are the words of someone who has some sort of interest in how a witness performs in a parliamentary hearing.
How is it that – two years later and after Judith Miller has spent 90 days in jail for refusing to cooperate with a criminal investigation – not one media organization has deemed it important to wonder: Who is the other "member of [Kelly's] fan club"? Is it Scooter Libby? Is it John Bolton (who visited Miller in jail and we know was questioned by the State Department Inspector General the same day Kelly's body was found)? Is it someone else? If it is indeed an American, exactly what is that person's interest in a British Parliamentary inquiry?
Judith Miller is the missing link between two different investigations. She's not a mere reporter. How do we know? Because, she has "reported" none of this.
Despite these multiple conversations with Libby, Miller never wrote about Joseph Wilson.
Despite the fact that she revealed the content of her e-mail to her Times editors – and one of her colleagues wrote about her receiving the "dark actors" e-mail – she never was inclined to pursue what drove a major source of hers to suicide.
Despite the fact that both Wilson and Kelly were critical actors in twin transatlantic challenges to the integrity of government assertions in the run-up to the Iraq War, Miller never offered even an analysis of what was occurring – even though it is clear that she was in close contact with individuals close to both controversies.
Despite the fact, that the challenges were about validity of intelligence related to weapons of mass destruction – journalistic turf that she had made her own in The New York Times.
And Miller wrote nothing about this in the days following either the Wilson op-ed (published in her own newspaper) or the suicide of an individual with whom her e-mail indicates she shares a familial intimacy that goes beyond the usual reporter-source relationship ("Hope it's true, J.")
Isn't this peculiar?
And, again: WHO is the "member of [David Kelly's] fan club" in a position to tell Judy Miller that "things went well for" him in his testimony on July 16th?
Upon which side of the Atlantic was that person?
The question is, will the true story ever come out?
If what Miller says is true in terms of the concession that Patrick Fitzgerald made to get Miller's testimony, the answer may be – probably not.
According to the transcript of her press conference after being released, Miller states:
Once I got a personal voluntary waiver [from my source], my lawyer...approached the special counsel to see if my grand jury testimony could be limited to the communications with the source from whom I had received that personal and voluntary waiver. The special counsel agreed to this, and that was very important to me...
...I know what my conscience would allow. And I was -- I stood fast to that.
Well isn't that interesting? Given that we know that her source (Lewis Libby) had essentially given her a full waiver a year before, the only thing that was different was that Fitzgerald finally allowed Miller to dictate the scope of the investigation! Wow!
A Washington observer with a keen sense of history told me, "That's like when Woodward and Bernstein expected Hugh Sloan, Treasurer for CREEP and former Halderman aide, to name names to the initial Watergate grand jury but he didn't. "Woodstein" were stunned and pissed off at Sloan until they learned the initial prosecutor never dreamed to inquire about anything beyond the the seven burglars."
If Fitzgerald made this major concession to Miller, he may have made it impossible to get a clear picture as to the full motives of the White House with respect to Joseph Wilson.
If that interest extended across the Atlantic into the BBC/Blair contretemps (and given Miller's role in both of them, that is not too wide a leap), Miller may have succeeded in shutting down that particular avenue.
NEXT: A deeper reading of the parallel challenges to the transatlantic "official stories."
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Comments :
So Robert George is saying this is even weirder than we thought?
By: Alvord on October 04, 2005 at 09:43pm
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Whew! This is great stuff. I salute you, Mr. George.
By: Bob on October 04, 2005 at 10:01pm
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Robert, on your website you compare Bush to President Ford. I remember the Ford years and I must say there is no comparison. Ford was fiscally responsible. He worried about deficits. He believed in sound economic principles. Ford was also an internationalist. Unlike Bush he did not spit in the face of our allies and alienate them. He cared about US reputation on the international stage. He would not have covered up Abu Gharib. And most importantly Ford gave this country great judges. They were well qualified and praised all around. Ford appointed Stevens who will be applauded by historians as a truly honest judge with utmost integrity.
So I want to know on what basis are you comparing Bush to Ford?
So I want to know on what basis are you comparing Bush to Ford?
By: Don on October 04, 2005 at 10:14pm
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Wow! This is some excellent dot connecting you've done. This piece starts to give some definition to the murky picture of Miller's role in the Plame investigation. Thank you.
By: MiddleAgedHousewife on October 04, 2005 at 10:17pm
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Wow. Mr. Sherlock Robert George, this is fascinating. Please keep going with this story!
Note to Arianna: VERY cool stuff.
Note to Arianna: VERY cool stuff.
By: Ralph on October 04, 2005 at 10:25pm
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Some interesting points but as I recall David Kelly's tips to the BBC that the Blair administation "sexed up" the intelligence were very damaging to Blair (and Bush) until they were later discredited by the Lord Hutton Inquiry. The BBC who co-sponsored this "scandal" wound up disgraced and the responsible senior editors/reporters were fired. David Kelly committed suicide just before his "tips" were about to be discredited. Judith Miller's connection here to David Kelly is intriqing but we need to know more.
By: Gregory Law on October 05, 2005 at 12:05am
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Excellent post!
The depths of Judith Miller's intrigues have yet to be plumbed, and we're certainly not going to get to the bottom listening to her. I applaud your close look at this chronology, and am eagerly awaiting the next installment!
Judy! Judy! Girl, what were you up to?
The depths of Judith Miller's intrigues have yet to be plumbed, and we're certainly not going to get to the bottom listening to her. I applaud your close look at this chronology, and am eagerly awaiting the next installment!
Judy! Judy! Girl, what were you up to?
By: Mickey on October 05, 2005 at 05:16pm
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Wow, I did not know that John Bolton was questioned in an internal investigation, on the same day the David Kelly's body was discovered.
In a letter from Henry Waxman to Chris Shays on Mar. 1,2005, he points out that State Department records reveal that John Bolton was actively involved in creating and promulgating the State Department Memo, relied upon by Colin Powel, that makes the false allegation about uranium from Niger.
The letter mentions that the State Department misled the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about Bolton's role. Later, John Bolton claims he forgot to admit that he had been interviewed in connection with this criminal investigation.
I've been watching Bolton and he's my culprit of choice in this dark mess.
Recently, Maurice Hinchey and 40 other House Dems wrote to Fitzgerald to request that he expand the scope of his investigation to include the origins of the Niger forgeries.
Fasten your seat belts folks, we could be in for a really fun ride.
In a letter from Henry Waxman to Chris Shays on Mar. 1,2005, he points out that State Department records reveal that John Bolton was actively involved in creating and promulgating the State Department Memo, relied upon by Colin Powel, that makes the false allegation about uranium from Niger.
The letter mentions that the State Department misled the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about Bolton's role. Later, John Bolton claims he forgot to admit that he had been interviewed in connection with this criminal investigation.
I've been watching Bolton and he's my culprit of choice in this dark mess.
Recently, Maurice Hinchey and 40 other House Dems wrote to Fitzgerald to request that he expand the scope of his investigation to include the origins of the Niger forgeries.
Fasten your seat belts folks, we could be in for a really fun ride.
By: Kathleen Grasso Andersen on October 06, 2005 at 02:29pm
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I'm very glad to see this, Mr. George. Great work! I'm also glad to see Huffpo has it on the front page again.
This past summer I too began to wonder if David Kelly's death was connected to the Plame outing, and did a lot of research. I came up with a timeline very similar to yours, except that I would add the following:
2001-- The Italian government's intelligence agency obtains Niger yellowcake documents, which they share with British and U.S. intelligence. ( We now know these documents were forged. But they were the subject of Mr. Wilson's inquiry).
July 23, 2002---date of Downing Street Memo (leaked to London Times --published May 1, 2005 )
September 2002 --British Government produces dossier about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, including claim they could be deployed within 45 minutes- contained in Hutton Report
May 29, 2003 David Gilligan reports on BBC that British intelligence was "sexed up".
July 17, 2003 British intelligence backpedals on their earlier intelligence assessment
July 19, 2003 Judith Miller backpedals on WMD assessment
It didn't occur to me to focus on the identity of David Kelly's "fan." You may really be on to something there. I was thinking it may be more important to know who the "dark characters" of David Kelly's last email are.
It's also interesting to note that Judith Miller and Andrew Gilligan from the BBC, who reported what David Kelly told him as "sexed-up" intelligence, were both reporting from Iraq in April of 2003.
Is it possible that David Kelly had access to the Downing Street memo ? If so, were others aware that Kelly knew about it since he was involved in many of the discussions on how to present the dossier? Was Dr. Kelly murdered by the "dark characters" who feared that he knew too much? Or was he simply so upset that he had been betrayed -- or felt that he had committed betrayal by speaking with Gilligan-- that he really did commit suicide, as Hutton's report concluded?
David Kelly ran in WMD intelligence circles. He was also part of a secret British intelligence operation that used high level scientists to leak information to the press for the express purpose of selling the rationale for war to the British people. What did he know of Valerie Plame's work? If he and Judith Miller were close enough for him to send her his very last email, how much other information were they sharing? And was one of them being double-crossed?
I'm wondering if the latest news about Miller communicating with Libby in June of 2003 could have been related not just to the Wilson trip, but also to Gilligan's BBC broadcast of May 29. There was a lot of criticism on both sides of the pond at that time because no WMD's were found, and we all know how Miller made the case for Iraqi WMD's prior to the war.
What if the main focus of the attack on Wilson was really to shut down Valerie Plame's operation which may have been getting too close to the truth? Since our DOD has its own intelligence operation, were they trying to subvert the CIA from getting out information that may have contradicted theirs?
This IS like a gigantic thriller spy novel. Would that it were only fiction! And I agree with you that Miller is the missing link between the two investigations.
Let's hope Fitzgerald is going deeper with this investigation than just finding out who leaked Plame's identity and his deal with Miller didn't close down avenues to do so.
I am most interested in seeing your second installment on this.
This past summer I too began to wonder if David Kelly's death was connected to the Plame outing, and did a lot of research. I came up with a timeline very similar to yours, except that I would add the following:
2001-- The Italian government's intelligence agency obtains Niger yellowcake documents, which they share with British and U.S. intelligence. ( We now know these documents were forged. But they were the subject of Mr. Wilson's inquiry).
July 23, 2002---date of Downing Street Memo (leaked to London Times --published May 1, 2005 )
September 2002 --British Government produces dossier about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, including claim they could be deployed within 45 minutes- contained in Hutton Report
May 29, 2003 David Gilligan reports on BBC that British intelligence was "sexed up".
July 17, 2003 British intelligence backpedals on their earlier intelligence assessment
July 19, 2003 Judith Miller backpedals on WMD assessment
It didn't occur to me to focus on the identity of David Kelly's "fan." You may really be on to something there. I was thinking it may be more important to know who the "dark characters" of David Kelly's last email are.
It's also interesting to note that Judith Miller and Andrew Gilligan from the BBC, who reported what David Kelly told him as "sexed-up" intelligence, were both reporting from Iraq in April of 2003.
Is it possible that David Kelly had access to the Downing Street memo ? If so, were others aware that Kelly knew about it since he was involved in many of the discussions on how to present the dossier? Was Dr. Kelly murdered by the "dark characters" who feared that he knew too much? Or was he simply so upset that he had been betrayed -- or felt that he had committed betrayal by speaking with Gilligan-- that he really did commit suicide, as Hutton's report concluded?
David Kelly ran in WMD intelligence circles. He was also part of a secret British intelligence operation that used high level scientists to leak information to the press for the express purpose of selling the rationale for war to the British people. What did he know of Valerie Plame's work? If he and Judith Miller were close enough for him to send her his very last email, how much other information were they sharing? And was one of them being double-crossed?
I'm wondering if the latest news about Miller communicating with Libby in June of 2003 could have been related not just to the Wilson trip, but also to Gilligan's BBC broadcast of May 29. There was a lot of criticism on both sides of the pond at that time because no WMD's were found, and we all know how Miller made the case for Iraqi WMD's prior to the war.
What if the main focus of the attack on Wilson was really to shut down Valerie Plame's operation which may have been getting too close to the truth? Since our DOD has its own intelligence operation, were they trying to subvert the CIA from getting out information that may have contradicted theirs?
This IS like a gigantic thriller spy novel. Would that it were only fiction! And I agree with you that Miller is the missing link between the two investigations.
Let's hope Fitzgerald is going deeper with this investigation than just finding out who leaked Plame's identity and his deal with Miller didn't close down avenues to do so.
I am most interested in seeing your second installment on this.
By: Tempo on October 09, 2005 at 05:14pm
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Thank goodness!
Someone at last has highlighted this connection. There is one more cross atlantic mystery - which is perhaps connected perhaps not:
http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/content/evidence-lists/evidenc...
Read the email with ref 0165 - you might find it intriguing... I have.
Someone at last has highlighted this connection. There is one more cross atlantic mystery - which is perhaps connected perhaps not:
http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/content/evidence-lists/evidenc...
Read the email with ref 0165 - you might find it intriguing... I have.
By: MH on October 18, 2005 at 10:01am
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Now THIS IS INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM! WONDERFUL RESEARCH HERE. THANK YOU!
By: Kathleen on October 18, 2005 at 02:37pm
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Robert, thank you for picking up on this.
British friends are speculating an "Operation
Rockingham" link between the Plame/Libby case and
Dr. David Kelly's death. And I don't think Patrick
Fitzgerald is going to stop with Libby, either.
As in the case of Kelly's questionable death,
Plame's "outing" was to intimidate other potential
whistleblowers -- "rogue elements" Blair's Dr. Reid
(who has replaced Hoon as Defence Secretary) condemned
them as, on the floor of Parliament
-- from coming forward.
Again, the 3 authorities believing Kelly's death
was murder -- NOT "apparent suicide:"
1. My brave British doctor friends who most recently
in the 2May05 NEW STATESMAN (on the eve of the
British elections) called for a genuine coroner's
inquest into David's death (instead of just the
Hutton "inquiry" denounced as a whitewash in most
British media).
2. The paramedics on the scene who (on the basis of
30 years of experience between them) filed a legal
statement stating *they* don't think his death was
suicide.
3. British lawyer Michael Shrimpton (who has handled
many intelligence-related cases over there) publicly
stating that according to his sources Kelly was
murdered by the Blair government, apparently
anticipating a real investigation and indictments
which never came. (Haven't heard a peep out of
Michael since.)
I would like to think my opening statement under my
GUARDIAN Kelly thread "The Kelly Inquiry: A Sham or
the Start of an Ethical Cleansing ... of the West?
http://politicstalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@119.9SXLhayYv5F.2@.597aa...
anticipated Fitzgerald's statement's emphasis on showing
the world that the Rule of Law *does* still exist in
this country if not Britain. ("Rokossovsky" was my
nom de plume. I have since been blocked from posting
on GUARDIAN Unlimited Talk, although I do post on their
"NewsBlogs" under my own name.)
Then there is the Italian/Berlusconi connection.
We'll see how long our mainstream media can keep *that* one
covered up.
Lou
Coatney
Macomb Illinois
http://LCoat.tripod.com... (1st Alamein)
From my GUARDIAN thread, "Was the Decision to "out"
Dr. David Kelly -- or to KILL him?"
http://politicstalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@37.JRxHh5K4vC4.4@.685f0b...
Dragonslayer - 11:39pm Oct 27, 2005 BST (#641 of 644)
Bearing all this in mind, can anyone see a
connection between Plamegate and the Kelly affair?
Of course..the links are many...
MUCH MORE.
British friends are speculating an "Operation
Rockingham" link between the Plame/Libby case and
Dr. David Kelly's death. And I don't think Patrick
Fitzgerald is going to stop with Libby, either.
As in the case of Kelly's questionable death,
Plame's "outing" was to intimidate other potential
whistleblowers -- "rogue elements" Blair's Dr. Reid
(who has replaced Hoon as Defence Secretary) condemned
them as, on the floor of Parliament
-- from coming forward.
Again, the 3 authorities believing Kelly's death
was murder -- NOT "apparent suicide:"
1. My brave British doctor friends who most recently
in the 2May05 NEW STATESMAN (on the eve of the
British elections) called for a genuine coroner's
inquest into David's death (instead of just the
Hutton "inquiry" denounced as a whitewash in most
British media).
2. The paramedics on the scene who (on the basis of
30 years of experience between them) filed a legal
statement stating *they* don't think his death was
suicide.
3. British lawyer Michael Shrimpton (who has handled
many intelligence-related cases over there) publicly
stating that according to his sources Kelly was
murdered by the Blair government, apparently
anticipating a real investigation and indictments
which never came. (Haven't heard a peep out of
Michael since.)
I would like to think my opening statement under my
GUARDIAN Kelly thread "The Kelly Inquiry: A Sham or
the Start of an Ethical Cleansing ... of the West?
http://politicstalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@119.9SXLhayYv5F.2@.597aa...
anticipated Fitzgerald's statement's emphasis on showing
the world that the Rule of Law *does* still exist in
this country if not Britain. ("Rokossovsky" was my
nom de plume. I have since been blocked from posting
on GUARDIAN Unlimited Talk, although I do post on their
"NewsBlogs" under my own name.)
Then there is the Italian/Berlusconi connection.
We'll see how long our mainstream media can keep *that* one
covered up.
Lou
Coatney
Macomb Illinois
http://LCoat.tripod.com... (1st Alamein)
From my GUARDIAN thread, "Was the Decision to "out"
Dr. David Kelly -- or to KILL him?"
http://politicstalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@37.JRxHh5K4vC4.4@.685f0b...
Dragonslayer - 11:39pm Oct 27, 2005 BST (#641 of 644)
Bearing all this in mind, can anyone see a
connection between Plamegate and the Kelly affair?
Of course..the links are many...
MUCH MORE.
By: BlackArrow on October 31, 2005 at 01:45am
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