American Prospect magazine revealed in August 2005 that Libby had testified that he met with NY Times reporter, Judith Miller, on July 8, 2003 and discussed Plame with her at that time. Miller was jailed on 6 July 2005 for contempt of court after refusing to testify to the grand jury about this meeting despite a signed blanket waiver from Libby allowing journalists to discuss their conversations.
Miller has argued that Libby's waiver to all journalists may well have been coerced and that she would only testify if given an individual waiver, which Miller received while serving her sentence.
The waiver was offered "voluntarily and personally" by Libby, accompanied by his letter which has raised eyebrows because of Libby's hinting as to what he expects from her testimony, and a poetic and cryptic ending which has been the subject of much speculation.
Libby: "As noted above, my lawyer confirmed my waiver to other reporters in just the way he did with your lawyer. Why? Because as I am sure will not be news to you, the public report of every other reporter's testimony makes clear that they did not discuss Ms. Plame's name or identity with me, or knew about her before our call......
"You went to jail in the summer. It is fall now. You will have stories to cover -- Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program. Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work—-and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers. With admiration, Scooter Libby." [Emphasis added.]
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Sure doesn't sound like something a conservative would write, now does it? And don't you just love Libby's gratuitous reference to the "Iranaian nuclear program." Clearly Libby was setting Miller up to push his agenda. Talk about agitprop. Guy's a master proselytizer.
Question: Did Libby tell President Bush about "his" plans before he told Miller, and the media?
Back in 2001, the Burton committee was supposedly jolted when Democrats called Libby, vice president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, to the witness stand regarding the catastrophic last-minute Clinton pardon of Marc Rich. Libby testified that not only did he approve of the pardon, within hours, as the Bush admin took over, Libby actually called Rich to offer his congratulations the moment he heard the news.
Not exactly something a true blue conservative would do, is it? And obviously, Libby's defense of the pardon nicely exonerated Clinton. Makes you wonder which side this guy is on.
I guess Marc Rich must have been gratified to know he had a "friend" in the new Bush administration, right smack dab in the VP's office.
Having a foot in both political camps, although totally unprincipled, is so handy, especially if you are a traitor and a convicted tax cheat. Shucks, Rich must be really peeved that Libby got indicted, and is gone from the WH.
OTOH, knowing Rich's friend in the Bush administration is gone sure makes authentic, true blue conservatives feel really good.
Most importantly, we need to determine how badly Libby hurt President Bush.
ping
I'm glad Libby is out of the White House. And what's up with that weird letter he wrote to Judith Miller when she was in jail?