Scooter Libby gave Judy Miller "permission" to talk? WTF is going on?

[Blue_Roses]

Okay, I'm totally confused here. Evidently I have missed something here. I haven't been following this story the last two days 'cause of being in overdrive with school stuff, but am trying to play catch up today. I heard Bay Buchanan talking about this on Wolf and she said that Libby gave Miller "permission" a year ago to speak If so, why didn't we hear about this and why all of a sudden the go-ahead from Libby to testify?

Someone please fill me in. Is this their plan--to totally try and run this straight over our heads? Thank-god for the internet.

[Richard Steele]

1. The entire "permission" story is just propaganda for the public.

His "permission" has NO legal weight in this matter: ZERO!

Miller simply persists with her nonsensical
"heroic principled reporter/ first amendment defender"
FAIRY TALE for one reason:

To cloud and confuse the issue in the minds
of those who don't bother to learn the facts
of the matter at hand.

It's bullshit, spin, propaganda, you name it.
Don't TRY to make sense of it;
it DOESN'T make sense.

[Blue_Roses]

3. thanks

I think this is the method to their madness--to spin this so much it makes us

and no, it sure doesn't make sense.

[buzzard]

14. But I am sure Fitzgerald doesn't pay attention to the spin. n/t

[joemurphy]

6. You are absolutely right.

Judy Miller was in jail simply because she didn't want to talk. Period.

She's talking now because she was looking at a longer sentence for criminal contempt. Period.

[Blue_Roses]

2. kick

nt

[longship]

4. It's a long story...

Libby, already fingered by Cooper, has released Miller from her pledge to keep his connection silent. What's very strange is that Libby had apparently released Miller last year and the whole thing was an apparent misunderstanding. What's with that?

She also made a deal with Fitz to limit her testimony to Rove/Plame and not include Miller's WMD cheerleading prior to the war. Go figure that.

Now the whole net is abuzz with crazy rumors, conspiracy theories and other rubbish.

One thing is for sure. Reports are that Fitz is onto some big shit. Also, the probe is apparently close to coming to an end.

Rumors are that next week is W-week.

on edit: Other than these things, nothing substantive is being reported, only speculation. Fitz and grand jury have their mouths tightly closed.

[Blue_Roses]

5. no wonder the whole thing

is confusing. So bottom line: Libby knows he's in deep shit and he's trying to cover his ass.

Miller sounds like she's sick of covering his ass.

[StClone]

7. Miller's Deal avoids Discussions of Plame/Cheney

Rove may not be the original nexus. So limiting the scope to discussions of Rove/Plame may have an advantage in their minds but I can not think of what it could be with Fitz's thorough knowledge in the case.

[longship]

13. Sorry, you're 180 degrees out of wack here.

Miller's deal avoids discussing WMD equivocations prior to the Iraqi invasion.

She was happy to discuss Rove/Plame with the grand jury, but not WMDs. That's the deal she made with Fitz. You've got it all backwards.

[DefenseLawyer]

9. Sorry I am not buying

the "misunderstanding" part. You can't tell me here lawyers wouldn't have made every possible attempt to get her a waiver before she went in and certainly while she was sitting there. Obviously that is a weak weak weak cover story.

[longship]

12. It's simple. She's not a object of the investigation.

None of the reporters are objects of the investigation. None of them have done anything wrong (with respect to Rove/Plame). Talking to Libby/Rove/Whoever is not illegal. Even Novak publishing Plames name and status, as dispicable as that was, broke no law. Unless there is perjury, the reporters are not going to be charged with anything. These are facts which are beyond dispute.

The only thing Miller was worried about was her WMD cheerleading prior to the Iraq invasion. She agreed to talk to the grand jury on condition that the focus of the questions would be limited to Rove/Plame and not her WMD equivocations. Fitz is not investigating WMD lies, but the outing of a CIA NOC so he was more than happy to accomodate her.

That's what's being reported. I see no reason not to accept it as fact.

Now you can speculate on a myriad of conjectures but it won't make it true. Miller has not violated any law with respect to Rove/Plame.

Think, people. Think. Remember the Pentagon Papers? Remember the First Amendment?

[DefenseLawyer]

15. I understand what civil contempt is

thank you. But what you said has nothing to do with what I am talking about. She went to jail for civil contempt because she refused to reveal her source, whom she asserted had spoken to her in confidence and had not given her permission (ethically not legally) to discuss the conversation. The explanation which was given yesterday was that she had just now received a "personal waiver" of confidentiality from her source (Libby) such that she no longer felt ethically bound to refuse to testify. Of course Libby was also Russert's source and he waived confidentiality for him over a year ago. But we are supposed to believe that he only now gave a waiver to Miller because of some "misunderstanding" and either he didn't know that he was the source she was protecting or she didn't know that he had already waived confidentiality? Sorry, there is no chance that is true.

[longship]

16. Well, that was explained today, also.

She did not want to testify if the scope of the testimony included her writing about WMD's before the war. Clearly she understands that she had been a cheap whore for the administration. Apparently she had used the same sources for her cheerleading for the neocons as she used for Rove/Plame and, for whatever reason one can only speculate, she did not want the investigation to probe those conversations that happened prior to the Iraqi invasion. When Fitz was willing to agree to limit the questions to just Rove/Plame, Miller and Fitz were able to come to an agreement.

It appears that the secret source business and the alleged lack of release from that source (Libby) was just a ploy by Miller to keep from testifying about a possibly nefarious relationship with the same sources prior to the war.

[Blue_Roses]

17. makes sense now

tonight on Tweety, this was the HOT topic. Judy Miller was never supposed to be the topic of all this discourse. She didn't even publish the article. With her "agreement" to not talk about WMD's I now see the TRUE motive for this circus.

People have missed the boat. I see now--very clear. Diversion and Scooter Libby and Dick Cheney are masters of this.

Sad we don't have anyone in our party that sees this.

[H2O Man]

8. Libby had released

several journalists, including Miller, a year ago. That wasn't a secret. It was reported on the "Plamne threads" numerous times.

While his release carries little legal weight, it certainly carries an ethical significance among journalists, and should be appreciated as important. I'm not, of course, suggesting that either Libby or Miller deserve respect. But those releases certainly are worthy of note.

[Blue_Roses]

11. I must have missed this tidbit

[Gabi Hayes]

10. WANTED