New York Times reporter completes testimony in CIA case
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-13 11:38

Under pressure from prosecutors, a New York Times reporter testified on Wednesday to a federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity about a previously undisclosed conversation with a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

In her second appearance before the grand jury, Times reporter Judith Miller was questioned for more than an hour after turning over notes detailing her June 23, 2003, conversation with Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby. An entry in her notes referred to Joseph Wilson, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's diplomat husband.

Hours after Miller completed her testimony, a federal judge lifted the contempt-of-court order that had sent her to jail for 85 days for refusing to reveal her source, the Times said.

Miller's testimony about the June 2003 conversation could help federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald establish whether the White House started targeting Wilson and possibly his wife in the weeks before Wilson publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence on Iraq.

During that period, reports had surfaced of a CIA-funded trip Wilson took in which he investigated administration charges that Iraq tried to buy nuclear materials in Africa and found the allegations had little foundation.

The leak investigation has spotlighted freedom-of-press issues and the Bush administration's aggressive efforts to defend its Iraq policy against critics.

President George W. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, has also been summoned to make a fourth appearance before the grand jury, most likely on Friday, and prosecutors have told him they can make no guarantees he will not be indicted.

After receiving what she called a personal and voluntary waiver of confidentiality from Libby, Miller testified before the grand jury on September 30 about their two previously disclosed conversations -- on July 8 and July 12, 2003.

Libby had referred only to the July conversations when he wrote Miller last month offering her the waiver. The limited reference raised questions about whether he intended the waiver to apply to their conversation that June.

It was unclear how Fitzgerald learned of the June 23 conversation. Legal sources close to Miller said she discovered the notes after she testified.

Miller was tight-lipped as she left the federal courthouse. On the eve of her testimony, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller warned that Miller was "not yet clear of legal jeopardy."

Judge Thomas Hogan's decision to lift the contempt order appears to clear the way for Miller to provide details about her testimony to the Times, which has come under fire for withholding information about Miller's role in the case.

UNDISCLOSED CONVERSATION

Fitzgerald has not indicated whether he intends to bring indictments in his nearly 2-year-old investigation into who leaked Plame's identity and whether any laws were broken.

He could bring charges against officials for knowingly revealing the identity of an undercover CIA operative, but some lawyers involved in the case say his focus may have shifted to conspiracy, perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges.

Two lawyers said Fitzgerald may be seeking to extend the investigation beyond the grand jury's scheduled October 28 expiration because of the new information.

Libby's June 23, 2003, conversation with Miller could bolster a conspiracy or perjury case because the conversation was not initially disclosed and suggests a preemptive effort was made to discredit Wilson, lawyers said.

According to a National Journal report, in two appearances before the federal grand jury, Libby did not disclose the June 23 conversation with Miller. Nor did he disclose the conversation when he was twice interviewed by FBI agents.

Wilson asserts that administration officials outed his wife, damaging her ability to work undercover, to discredit him for criticizing Bush's Iraq policy in a New York Times opinion piece on July 6, 2003.

The newly disclosed conversation between Miller and Libby took place two weeks earlier.