Judith Miller, 2005 News

New York Times reporter, was sent to jail in July after she refused to testify before a grand jury about confidential sources she interviewed while researching the illegal disclosure of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. “If journalists cannot be trusted to guarantee confidentiality, then journalists cannot function and there cannot be a free press,” Miller said. She was released from jail in late September, after her source, I. Lewis Libby, President Cheney's chief of staff, gave her explicit permission to testify. She had served about 12 weeks in jail. She testified before the grand jury to day after her release. In 2003, columnist Robert Novak, citing two high-level members of the Bush administration, identified Valerie Plame as a CIA agent who specializes in weapons of mass destruction. Miller conducted interviews about the scandal but never wrote about it. She retired from the New York Times in November.


2005 People in the News