WASHINGTON — After serving 85 days in jail for refusing to reveal her conversations with a confidential source, New York Times reporter Judith Miller broke her silence Friday, testifying about her conversations with that source before a federal grand jury investigating possible wrongdoing by figures in the Bush administration.
Miller emerged from the federal courthouse in Washington beaming, at the arm of her publisher, less than a day removed from a jail cell. She had been held in contempt of court for refusing to cooperate in the investigation into whether people in the White House leaked the name of a CIA operative to journalists in July 2003.
Although she declined to detail the substance of her testimony, sources said its focus was conversations between Miller and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, days before the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame appeared in a newspaper column by Robert Novak. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings.
Miller, who was jailed July 6 for refusing to divulge her confidential source, said she agreed to testify after her source personally telephoned her last week at the Virginia jail where she was held. The source urged her to appear and released her from a claim of confidentiality, she said. She did not identify Libby as her source; he was named by others close to the case.
"I said to the court before I was jailed that I did not believe I was above the law, and that I would have to go to jail because of my principles," Miller said on the courthouse steps. "But once I satisfied those principles, I was prepared to testify."
She briefly answered questions from reporters, and then stepped into a waiting limousine, saying that she was looking forward to having her husband prepare her a home-cooked meal and hugging her dog.
Thus ended a media drama that had provoked claims that the prosecutor in the case was overzealous, and renewed interest in Congress in enacting legislation that affords journalists greater protection against revealing sources who provide confidential information about official misconduct. The special prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, had pressed for jail time, saying that Miller's testimony was essential to wrapping up an investigation that has lasted for two years. But the import of her testimony for that investigation is far from clear.
