The Wilson-Plame affair took another turn in the latter half of 2003 when the CIA sought a criminal investigation of the leak of Plame's covert identity. Because of conflicts of interest in George W. Bush's Justice Department, Fitzgerald - the U.S. Attorney in Chicago - was named as a special prosecutor in December 2003.
Known as a hard-nosed and independent-minded prosecutor, Fitzgerald demanded testimony from Miller and several other journalists in summer 2004. Miller refused to cooperate, saying she had promised her sources confidentiality and arguing that waivers signed by Libby and other officials had been coerced.
Almost a year later, Miller was imprisoned for contempt of court. After 85 days in jail, she relented and agreed to testify, but only after she received a personal assurance from Libby that he wanted her to appear.
According to the Times account, Libby's lawyer, Joseph A. Tate, assured Miller's lawyer Abrams as early as summer 2004 that Miller was free to testify, but he added that Libby already had told Fitzgerald's grand jury that Libby had not given Miller the name or undercover status of Wilson's wife.
"That raised a potential conflict for Ms. Miller," the Times reported. "Did the references in her notes to 'Valerie Flame' and 'Victoria Wilson' suggest that she would have to contradict Mr. Libby's account of their conversations? Ms. Miller said in an interview that Mr. Tate was sending her a message that Libby did not want her to testify."
According to Miller's account, her attorney Abrams told her that Libby's lawyer Tate "was pressing about what you would say. When I wouldn't give him an assurance that you would exonerate Libby, if you were to cooperate, he then immediately gave me this, 'Don't go there, or, we don't want you there.'"
Responding to a question from the New York Times, Tate called Miller's interpretation of his position "outrageous." After all, if Miller were telling the truth, Tate's maneuver would border on suborning perjury and obstruction of justice.
But there is also a disturbing element for Miller's defenders. Her subsequent actions could be interpreted as finding another means to protect Libby. By refusing to testify and going to jail, Miller helped Libby - temporarily at least - avoid a possible indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Miller's jailing also drew the Times editorial page and many Washington journalists into a campaign aimed at pressuring Fitzgerald to back off his investigation. In effect, many members of the Washington news media were pulled, unwittingly or not, into what looks like a cover-up of a criminal conspiracy.
The Times editorialized that Miller would not reverse her refusal to testify and that additional incarceration was unjustified. But the jail time worked. When Miller realized that Fitzgerald wouldn't relent and that she might stay in prison indefinitely, she decided to reopen negotiations with Libby about whether she should testify.
Libby sent her a friendly letter that read like an invitation to testify but also to stick with the team. "Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning," Libby wrote. "They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them."
When Miller finally appeared before the grand jury, she offered an account that seemed to twist and turn in underground directions to protect Libby. For instance, she insisted that someone else had mentioned "Valerie Flame," but she said she couldn't recall who.
Before testifying to the grand jury, Miller also extracted an agreement from Fitzgerald that he wouldn't ask her questions about any source other than Libby.
But the longer back story of "Plame-gate" is how the Washington media culture changed over a generation, from the skeptical days of Watergate and the Pentagon Papers to an era in which leading journalists see their "roots" connecting to the national security state.
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