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WASHINGTON, Sep 30, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- New York Times reporter Judith Miller testified Friday before the federal grand jury investigating the disclosure of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity.
Miller, in a statement published in the Times, said she was able to testify because her source had "personally and voluntarily" freed her from a promise of confidentiality. The source was identified by others at the Times as Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Miller's involvement in the case has been something of a mystery because she did not write about the Plame affair. Plame was identified by conservative columnist Robert Novak after her husband, Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of misleading the public about Saddam Hussein's supposed attempt to buy uranium from Nigeria.
Miller spent 12 weeks in jail. Joseph Tate, one of Libby's lawyers, told the Washington Post he told Miller months ago Libby waived confidentiality and was doing so voluntarily. Miller decided to testify after receiving a personal telephone call from Libby.
"At the outset, she had only a generic waiver of this obligation, and she believed she had ample reason to doubt it had been freely given," Times Executive Editor Bill Keller said. "In recent days, several important things have changed that convinced Judy that she was released from her obligation."
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2005 by United Press International
