Jailed reporter contradicts Libby in perjury case
Source: Reuters
By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby spoke to a reporter about a CIA operative on two occasions before he says he knew her identity, Libby's perjury trial heard on Tuesday. Judith Miller, one of the Times's star journalists until she resigned in late 2005, spent 85 days in jail resisting court orders to disclose who told her about Valerie Plame, the wife of a prominent critic of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. She was released from jail last year and agreed to testify after receiving written permission from Libby, Vice-President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. Libby has told investigators that he first heard of Plame from NBC television's Tim Russert around July 10, 2003. Miller, the first of several journalists expected to testify at the trial, said Libby told her about Plame on June 23. 2003 and again on July 8. The Plame case goes to the heart of criticism that the White House deliberately twisted intelligence about Iraq's purported weapons programs in order to justify war. Plame's husband Joseph Wilson challenged administration assertions that Iraq had tried to buy uranium in Africa for a nuclear weapons program, saying he had investigated the claim for the CIA on a visit to Niger and found no evidence. He went public on July 6, 2003. His wife's identity was revealed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak a week later. No one has been charged with intentionally blowing Plame's cover, which can constitute a crime. Libby resigned after he was charged with lying to investigators in the case. Miller spoke in a halting voice and appeared uneasy in the witness box. At their June 23 meeting, Miller said, Libby appeared "agitated, frustrated and angry" by what he saw as the CIA's attempts to distance itself from the discredited uranium report. "He was concerned the CIA was trying to backpedal ... through what he called a 'perverted war' of leaks," Miller said. Libby mentioned that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA at both meetings, Miller said. Miller never wrote about Plame but resisted revealing her source, citing confidentiality. She said she went to jail because she thought Libby had been coerced into signing a waiver allowing her to testify. She agreed to testify after receiving a second note from Libby. She is expected to take the stand again on Wednesday.
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