Well Isn't That Interesting -- The Powertools Edition
The Powertools have done it again -- bent over and offered themselves up as BushCo. leak toys. They have somehow "mysteriously" been provided with letters between Libby, Miller and their attorneys.
Sayith the Hindlicker:
I still think it almost inconceivable that Judith Miller, or anyone else, would sit in prison for three months, if all she needed to get out was a letter from Libby saying, in effect, "I meant what I said a year ago," without ever asking Libby for such a letter or communicating to him that it was on his behalf that she was in prison. That scenario, as outlined by Abrams, seems senseless to me. It also doesn't explain, as Paul noted last night, why Miller stayed in jaiil for another ten days after getting Libby's letter.Haven't had a chance to go over them in detail yet, but on the surface it strikes me as a salvo back at the NYT editorial of this morning:
Why, then, did she agree to testify yesterday? Could Ms. Miller have gotten the permission earlier? Why didn't she just pick up the phone and ask?I really do think this is a Rove orchestrated distraction. There has long been a rumor of big animosity between Cheney's office and RoveCo. over who fucked up in TraitorGate, and who will take the fall, with Rove's and Libby's lawyers doing amusing "anonymous source" battles in the press. To focus all the attention on Miller and Libby's pointless kabuki seems meant to keep the heat off of Rove himself. Nothing more.
When a journalist guarantees confidentiality, it means that he or she is willing to go to jail rather than disclose the source's identity. We also believe it means that the journalist will not try to coerce the source into granting a waiver to that promise - even if her back is against the wall. If Ms. Miller's source had wanted to release her from her promise, he could have held a press conference and identified himself. And obviously, he could have picked up the phone. Ms. Miller believed - and we agree - that it was not her place to try to hound him into telling her that she did not need to keep her promise.
Predictably, the only thing the Tool Time crowd can stop rimming themselves about is to put into play another distracting piece of bs from their Sith Lords.
Hey, Time Magazine? You ready to suck this one up yet?
Update: From this morning's Editor and Publisher, via Kos:
This “Dear Judy” letter repeatedly expressed his admiration for her and cited everything she was losing in jail, from missing out on covering new biological threats to enjoying the aspens turning out West. He noted that the aspens "turn in clusters, because their roots connect them."Oh yes it has...
But maybe the personal tone is not so surprising. The letter suggests that the two, who saw eye to eye on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, which never materialized, are either very close—or Libby was just pretending, to make her go easy on him if she did testify.
The text of the entire letter, which was mailed to Miller's attorney, Robert Bennett, has not been printed in the Times or elsewhere.
Update: Guess the NYT wasn't happy about being scooped by a bunch of beat-offs. They now have the letters available here (PDF).
Update III: Emptywheel says they were up on the NYT at 4:30 this morning. Guess Hindlicker's big "expose" wasn't much of one after all.
posted by Jane Hamsher @ 10/01/2005 09:54:00 AM
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