MILLER RELEASED….I’m watching MSNBC, and Pete Williams has just confirmed that Judith Miller is out of jail. Apparently she’ll be testifying in federal court on Friday. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer account:
Miller left an Alexandria, Va. jail late this afternoon, a jail official said.
She was released after she had a telephone conversation with the Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, sources said. In that conversation, Libby reaffirmed that he had released Miller from a promise of confidentiality more than a year ago, sources said.
Tomorrow should be fun….
UPDATE: From the New York Times:
The agreement that led to Ms. Miller’s release followed intense negotiations between Ms. Miller; her lawyer, Robert Bennett; Mr. Libby’s lawyer, Joseph Tate; and Mr. Fitzgerald. The talks began with a telephone call from Mr. Bennett to Mr. Tate in late August. Ms. Miller spoke with Mr. Libby by telephone earlier this month as their lawyers listened, according to people briefed on the matter. It was then that Mr. Libby told Ms. Miller that she had his personal and voluntary waiver.
But the discussions were at times strained, with Mr. Libby and Mr. Tate asserting that they communicated their voluntary waiver to Ms. Miller’s lawyers more than year ago, according to those briefed on the case. Mr. Libby wrote to Ms. Miller in mid-September, saying that he believed her lawyers understood that his waiver was voluntary.
Translation: Miller’s lawyer called Libby’s lawyer last month; Libby said his generic waiver a year ago was plenty; Miller said it wasn’t; Libby said fine, I’m telling you now you have a waiver; really and truly?; yes, yes, really and truly.
So tomorrow morning Miller testifies. And as near as I can tell, that’s all that Patrick Fitzgerald needs to wrap up the Plame case. Before long, we should know if he’s got anything or not.
