The NY Times has published its long-awaited "here’s everything we know" articles. Judith Miller’s first-person account of her meetings with Dick Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby and her grand jury testimony is here, and the paper’s own investigation into the whole sordid affair is here.
Both articles are long and worth reading. But neither really advances the ball very much – a nugget here and there, but no mother lode. We won’t really know what’s going on in this case until special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald announces what he’s going to do, or not do.
Many folks will be going over the two NYT articles with a fine-tooth comb: Mark Kleiman already has several posts up; Hunter at Kos takes a first pass here, and look in particular for what Arianna Huffington has to say over the next few days, as she seems to have lots of sources inside the Times. As for Miller, she is apparently taking an indefinite leave from the paper, and may resign. Sounds like book-writing time to me. The NYT articles quote Miller denying that she has yet inked a book deal, but Arianna was pretty confident that she had.
Meanwhile, Frank Rich reminds us (sub. req’d, sorry) that the really important story here is not what Rove and Libby said about Valerie Plame, it’s what Bush and Cheney (and the rest of the gang) said about Iraq. How much of that story can be revealed by Fitzgerald’s actions in the Plame case, only time will tell.
David,I am thankful that you and others are not letting this story go. My fear has been that it would get lost in the many hurricanes, earthquakes, Avian Bird Flu pandemic, and all other natural disasters that seem to be destroying the world. In all seriousness, one of the parts of this whole scandal that drives me crazy is the simple question… “What About BOB???” How is it that someone who never wrote an article siting classified information was brought before a grand jury and went to jail, whereas the guy who revealed the classified information went free?? I must have missed something in my travels, because for the life of me I cannot understand how Robert Novak has remained unscathed by all this. It infuriates me to no end!! I personally think he and any other “journalist”, whether Democrat or Republican, that cannot write about jsut the facts and instead pollutes them with heresay, personal opinions and partisan trickery should be barred from writing for a “News” organizaion. Speaking of which, this should not only apply to the individual but the organization as a whole. We need clear definitions of what is entitled to be considered a News Organization. And those that don’t fit that specific definition, which holds facts to the highest standard and removes all opinions from the stories, should be labelled Propoganda Organizations. Can you imagine hearing… “Good evening, and welcome to this edition of FOX Propoganda.” Hmmm, some day justice and truth will find their way back into this country’s political mainstream. Until then, lets just hope that George Bush doesn’t go through any PMS or that Carl Rove/Scooter Libby don’t learn the launch codes for our “nucular” weapons.
Re Bob: what I recall reading is that Novak almost certainly did testify voluntarily before the grand jury, though no one seems to have any idea what he said.