'Hidden Scandal' in Miller Story, Charges Former CBS Newsman

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001306732

There is one enormous journalism scandal hidden in Judith Miller's Oct. 16th first person article about the (perhaps lesser) CIA leak scandal. And that is Ms. Miller's revelation that she was granted a DoD security clearance while embedded with the WMD search team in Iraq in 2003.

This is as close as one can get to government licensing of journalists and the New York Times (if it knew) should never have allowed her to become so compromised. It is all the more puzzling that a reporter who as a matter of principle would sacrifice 85 days of her freedom to protect a source would so willingly agree to be officially muzzled and thereby deny potentially valuable information to the readers whose right to be informed she claims to value so highly.

One must assume that Ms. Miller was required to sign a standard and legally binding agreement that she would never divulge classified information to which she became privy, without risk of criminal prosecution. And she apparently plans to adhere to the letter of that self-censorship deal; witness her dilemma at being unable to share classified information with her editors.

In an era where the Bush Administration seeks to conceal mountains of government activity under various levels of security classification, why would any self-respecting news organization or individual journalist agree to become part of such a system? Readers would be right to question whether a reporter is operating under a security clearance and, by definition, withholding critical information. Does a newspaper not have the obligation to disclose to its readers when a reporter is not only embedded with a military unit but also officially proscribed in what she may report without running afoul of espionage laws? Was that ever done in Ms. Miller's articles from Iraq?

[kentuck]

1. It was reported at the time that she acted like she was a "general"

She wanted all the comforts of home and insisted on being waited on by the peons and a lot of people were pissed at her little adventure.

[babylonsister]

2. Nom. for clarifying how wrong this is. Thanks! nt

[Pithy Cherub]

3. Excellent point. Co-opt the *journalist* in as many ways as possible.

Security clearances, access, exclusivity and in many cases cold hard cash. How can America trust journalists when they allow themselves to be bought and sold so easily and for so little.

[alfredo]

14. They can also control what she can say. so much for

investigative journalism.

[H2O Man]

20. That's the important point.

Miller was not the only journalist with that type of clearance. She likely was brought in on more sensitive things than most, of course. Keep in mind that she can't report on those things; in fact, she can't share them with her editors.

And that is what is scarey. The situation compromises the integrity of journalism. It isn't just that the reporter can NOT possibly be objective -- just can't -- but there isn't the oversight of an editor in the media forums that benefit from editors (not to mention lawyers, etc).

[Pithy Cherub]

23. It calls into question every national security reporter covering the CIA,

DHS et al. This is the new and improved for much higher stakes Operation Mockingbird with real consequences for telling or writing the truth - just so the *journalist* can be on the *inside*. It would go a long way to help explain the sustained hubris of certain Bush credentialed reporters /journalists and their management. It also keeps explaining the inbred secrecy (John Dean)of this administration. Just:wow: This is really huge!

Who is watching the watchers?

[cassiepriam]

42. wouldn't there be a money trail somewhere?

Certainly FItz has looked at her bank accts and spending patterns?

[Jackpine Radical]

4. So, is this story going anywhere?

Are there actually any journalists left outside the blogosphere?

[ClintonTyree]

44. Journalists that aren't......

on the bush payroll you mean? There may be a few but it does appear that they've co-opted many of the "bigger" fish in the MSM. This is straight out of the fascists handbook, control the media and the message. If it weren't for bloggers putting pressure on the few true journalists we have left we might never hear the truth again.
As for Miller and the NYT, this has been sticking in my craw for quite some time. How they can stand behind her after she's been covering for people who have proved to be traitors to their country is beyond me. I think journalists SHOULD be able to protect their sources, but when the journalist in question IS PART of the story and that story is harming the country, all bets are off. Fitzgerald did the right thing, and Lou Dobbs or any other "journalist" that defends her is a complete moron. They're being played by Miller and the bush administration.

[Bumblebee]

5. there is also a discussion of that over at TPM

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/16/112238/93

[BOSSHOG]

6. Unfucking believable

I am a 24 year military veteran. I have a degree in Journalism. You don't give a journalist a "secret" clearance. Does anyone, other than moron fucking bush supporters see anything wrong with this picture?

Your job is to report news, so here's a security clearance. Hopefully Mr Fitzgerald will catch this fucking fly in his web.

Pardon the cussing, but this old motherfucker is getting sicker and sicker about what those at free republic support on a daily basis. Fuck your country conservatives, that is the only thing you know how to do.

[Cha]

18. Yeah, how's that for out

oxymoroning your competitors? A reporter with "security clearance"?

A "reporter" with a fucking agenda for the white house!

[DemReadingDU]

31. I would think that there should be people

reading the various Internet sites and blogs who report back to Fitzgerald with all this info.

[noamnety]

7. Can you get a security clearance without having a contract?

I thought clearances were for government employees, or contractors with a contract that specifies they need a clearance to perform their contract.

Maybe there's another category I just never ran into ... but it would be nice to know if she was under contract with them, and if so what services was she providing to the government, and what did she get paid?

[DBoon]

19. No.

You MUST be a government employee or a contractor working on a project requiring access to classified material.

The investigation required for a clearance is costly and usually the employer pays (did the NYT pay for this??). I think it is a few thousand dollars for a secret clearance, obviously higher for a top secret. Once granted a clearance, it is portable to your next job - hence there is a high demand for individuals holding a clearance among contractors.

[IChing]

8. I said she was a plant or a mole way back

But at that time I did not know of her DOD security clearance and what compromises she had to make in order to do her type of "ace" reporting, where she can't remember names or facts.

[Beam Me Up]

9. I can't believe the NYT didn't know this. n/t

[UTUSN]

10. Miss Run Amok (her own self-name) n/t

[bostonbabs]

45. Run Amok is way tooo kind

of course she gave herself that "name" it smacks of others being at fault. "Miss Treasonous Tart" is closer to the truth.

[Zen Democrat]

11. Aha! So this is why Judy Miller never wrote a story on Wilson/Plame.

She had a government security clearance and writing this story would have constituted a federal crime, which the Bush administration could have held over her head if she ever went "wobbly". Maybe Miller not printing this story was an act of self-preservation.

I'm interested to know if any other of the other reporter-witnesses in this case had such clearances with the government.

[AmBlue]

12. How many more??

How many more Judy Millers are out there right now, unbeknownst to the American public whom they purportedly serve???? Don't we have a right to know?

[Bumblebee]

15. and the SPJ is going to reward her for it?!!!

[cassiepriam]

43. I have been wondering the same thing. She cannot be the only one.

Boggles the mind.

[EVDebs]

13. It's way worse than you think, Ramboliberal

"This is as close as one can get to government licensing of journalists and the New York Times (if it knew) should never have allowed her to become so compromised"

Sorry, Operation Mockingbird -- exposed in the '70s-- shows us that illegal domestic CIA opertions, and now potentially military ops with the year 2000 revelations of the CNN and PsyOps story by counterpunch's Alexander Cockburn

www.counterpunch.org/cnnpsyops.html

Plus the whole Gannon/Guckert episode...the media intentionally doesn't scratch the surface of this scab on our Democracy, if we can keep it, as Ben Franklin once said.

[stop the bleeding]

16. Interesting, her story has only lead to more questions instead of

answers.

[punpirate]

22. One of those interesting questions that's been bandied about...

... for many months is if she was aware of Valerie Plame's anti-WMD operations through her other reporting. If her notebooks are any indication, it seems she did not--otherwise, it seems likely she would have written Plame's maiden name properly.

It's also an indication of just how sloppy a reporter she is--using her reporter's notebook would indicate she was interviewing Libby, and not getting the name right, not taking the few seconds to get it right, indicates she wasn't paying much attention. Guess having lunch with your friends will cause that now and then....

What bothers me about the clearance business most is how she interacted with the people in MET Alpha--bossing them around, threatening them with the displeasure of Donald Rumsfeld, etc., because they wouldn't do what she thought they should and go to places she told them to go. That suggested that she was not just being her usual self, but that she herself had an agenda in getting herself embedded with that team. That agenda seemed, from the reports, to be very much that of people like Chalabi and the OSP types.

Was she trying to force MET Alpha to pursue planted evidence, to prove not only her previous writing, but OSP's falsehoods, as well? :shrug:


edit for clarity

[IChing]

29. she also tangled with Fitz by tipping off about a forthcoming raid

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5077563

[Nothing Without Hope]

17. ***Was she there to "FIND" PLANTED WMDs? - READ THIS EARLIER POST!***

In this all too plausible scenario, the DoD had planted WMDs to be "found" in order to undermine critics of the Iraq War; Miller was sent to the area to preside over the event and get the scoop. For some reason - quite possibly because too many people found out about it - the WMD planting gambit failed. This incident would be likely directly related to the "suicide" of David Kelly - remember that his email to Judith Miller was the last before his suspicious death. Did he tell her of his suspicions, after which he was silenced for knowing too much?

Read this post by Peace Patriot and you'll see why I think this is probably true. It surely does tie some unexplained loose ends together and comprises what would indeed be an even bigger crime than the Plame leak. If only more whistle-blowers would step forward! But Kelly's death sent a clear message about the consequences.

See what you think:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5049555

[annabanana]

21. (I think so. . .)

Isn't it amusing how easy it is to "connect the dots" when your job isn't to scatter the "dots" to the four winds, or bury them, or ignore them, or disguise them....

Remember that lovely old phrase, "watchdog press"..I know I miss it.

[stop the bleeding]

24. Yeah that link is I copied off another thread from peace patriot's theory

So far it has a couple hundred replies and people have not been able to poke holes or break it down. In fact the more research that people have done and material that they have turned up has only solidified the theory.

I know it's a long shot but who knows how this thing will turn out.

I am hoping and hedging my bets on the fact that other former officials have spilt the beans, Colin, Ari, or ex CIA and that Fitz knows alot more than any one of the players in this game, and that he has and will continue to get them to out each other as we get further into this.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

25. Security clearances are NOT just handed over to people

I should know- I was given a Top Secret Codeword security clearance because of my assigned duties in the Air Force. Before I was cleared, a thorough background investigation of my entire life was conducted, including FBI interviews with my neighbors, teachers, and even some of my friends.

There's also a paper trail- a specific application must be made, and the proper forms must be filled out.



( Full form in PDF file at: http://usmilitary.about.com/library/pdf/sf86.pdf )

There's a concept included with any security clearance- it's called "Need To Know". If you do not have a specific need for classified information for your immediate duties, YOU DO NOT GET THE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS. It's clear. It's unambiguous. It's specific.

Why and how ANY "reporter" would find a security clearance dropped into their lap, is beyond me. It's suspicious, it's not proper, and it's most likely either bogus or illegal.

[Peace Patriot]

35. I can't recall where I first read about her "embed" contract, but I recall

that it was described as just that, a contract, and that it was signed by Donald Rumsfeld. Is it possible that this is the REASON that Rumsfeld himself was involved in this "contract," because Miller wouldn't have passed a background check? He had to override law and protocol?

Why couldn't she pass a background check? Too close to Chalabi, a convicted felon in Jordan? (Of course that didn't stop the Bushites from putting Chalabi on the payroll--but it might have given them pause as to Miller being vetted in the normal way.) Too close to the Israeli gov't? Getting covert payments from questionable sources? Not who she purports to be, in some way? Made-up resume? Or, her covert connections to these very same people--the Treasongate felons, the Bush Cartel--was the thing at risk, in an honest background check.

So, Rumsfeld had to step in and give her clearance; thus she was "embedded" and exercised--or tried to exercise--authority over the WMD-hunting troops, to guide them to the planted weapons, and to be on the spot when they were "found."

What I had thought that the Rumsfeld signed embed contract meant was that Rumsfeld had his hand in this business, too--in Treasongate (and the planting of WMDs). He hasn't been mentioned at all. Is he lurking behind these events? But I hadn't thought about her security clearance (just found out about it, like everyone else). They didn't want her investigated? They didn't want her answerable to anyone but themselves?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

37. There's just no way any of it makes the slightest sense

There's an ongoing, natural animus between the military and its culture of official secrecy and the "free" press. I just cannot see some military lifer simply handing a member of the press classified material. "Here you go, dear. Just read this document, then slip it into the nearest burn bag. Oh, by the way, whatever you do, don't disseminate it. That's a good reporter!"

No matter how you cook it, it's still rotten meat, and everybody knows it.

[Pacifist Patriot]

40. Absolutely correct! That was the first thing I thought.

There is something very very suspicious about this. Security clearances are not just handed out. This is beyond the pale.

[Frustratedlady]

26. Could Judith Miller have been

another Williams with his "contract" to push for the NCLB program for the Dept. of Education? Could she have been paid by the Department of Defense to print propaganda for the Iraq War? Surely, the GAO or someone has a record of any payments, unless they were taken from a secret fund (the money that was lost in Iraq) from the RNC or GW's friends. God only knows he has a lot of them with deep pockets -- [pay a little out to help George...put a whole bunch back in for doing him a favor. Isn't that how it works?

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

30. I think that someone needs to "follow the money" and it should be

Judith Miller's money. That often is how spies are brought down - because they have far more lavish lifestyles then their government or private salaries would entitle them to. What's his name,you know who I mean, that FBI guy that was a spy just recently, explained his lifestyle by saying his wife had gotten a large inheritance.

And when the government hires paid propagandists like Armstrong Williams - how do they account for the pay-outs? Did Armstrong Williams get a 1099 from the govenrment? If not, why not?

[Nothing Without Hope]

27. Another thread on the same OP article (in the LBN forum):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1853828

[IChing]

28. Don't forget she got one of those fake anthrax letters

Someone mailed letters containing anthrax to ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, The New York Post, and the Florida-based company that publishes the National Enquirer in mid-September.

On October 4, an employee of the Florida media company is confirmed to have contracted anthrax.

The next day, a letter containing a white powder is mailed from Florida to the New York Times reporter Judy Miller. The powder tests negative for anthrax.

courtesy of tgnyc :http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5077195

[progressoid]

32. Hmmm, didn't know that!

[Peace Patriot]

36. That girl sure gets around! David Kelly, anthrax, Chalabi, Rumsfeld,

CheneyLibby, and kicking at the dust in Iraq---wherever inexplicable crimes and hubris are at work.

[Frustratedlady]

38. Don't forget Bolton......n/t

[niallmac]

33. 'Agent' Miller? n/t

[ignatius 2]

34. Gimme a P,gimme a R.gimme a you know the rest,PROPOGANDA at its

worst.

[Hissyspit]

39. She's dirty. n/t

[HereSince1628]

41. But wouldn't a member of Rummy's OSP have a clearance?

I am more and more suspicious that Miller was on BushCo's payroll.