When the book is written on the Plame scandal, there could probably be a whole chapter filled with details from the last few days. Other than the Bush-Rove conversation, which I’ll do a separate post on, here’s a rundown:
* The New York Times’ Judith Miller, after testifying before the grand jury, “discovered” notes of a conversation she had with Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby in June 2003. The notes have been turned over to Patrick Fitzgerald.
* The fact that Miller suddenly found these notes, according to one clever theory, may have something to do with avoiding perjury/obstruction charges of her own.
* Reuters, which scooped the New York Times on a story involving one of its own reporters, said Miller’s newly-found notes could help form the basis for a wide-ranging conspiracy charge against administration officials.
* The LA Times reported that Fitzgerald phoned Wilson on Sept. 29, the same day Miller was released from jail. Wilson declined in an interview to discuss the nature of their conversation, but confirmed that it occurred. It suggests that Miller’s testimony may have been directly connected to Wilson.
* The waiver from Libby that prompted Miller to testify may not have been as “voluntary” as we’d been led to believe. In a letter to Libby’s attorney, Fitzgerald wrote, “I would welcome such a communication reaffirming Mr. Libby’s waiver. It would be viewed as cooperation with the investigation.” Reuters explained, “Some lawyers in the case called the letter a thinly veiled threat seeking Libby’s cooperation, and said it raised questions about whether Libby’s waiver was as voluntary as Miller and her lawyers had described.”
* Miller’s notes aren’t the only missives that have suddenly turned up. After Karl Rove testified three times, he found a July 11, 2003, email he sent to deputy national-security adviser Stephen Hadley about the conversation he had with Time’s Matt Cooper. It confirms that Rove warned Cooper not to get “far out in front” of the Niger story.
* Newsweek also reported that Rove is testifying for a fourth time to focus on “discrepancies in testimony between Rove and Time reporter Matt Cooper about their conversation of July 11, 2003.”