The aluminum-tube story was later debunked by U.S. Energy Department experts and State Department analysts, but it remained a terrifying argument as George W. Bush stampeded the Congress and the country to war in fall 2002 and winter 2003. [For details, see "Powell's Widening Credibility Gap."]
Since the Oct. 16, 2005, articles detailing Miller's role in the Plame controversy, Miller's image as a journalistic martyr - who went to jail rather than betray the confidence of a source - also has been tarnished.
After 85 days in jail resisting a federal subpoena, Miller finally agreed to testify about her three conversations with Libby regarding Ambassador Wilson's criticism of another high-profile administration WMD claim, that Iraq had been seeking enriched uranium from the African nation of Niger.
In 2002, Cheney's office expressed interest in a dubious report from Italy claiming that Iraq was trying to buy "yellowcake" uranium in Niger. Reacting to Cheney's concern, the CIA dispatched Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador in Africa, to check out the allegations.
Wilson returned believing that the claim was most likely baseless, an opinion shared by other U.S. government experts. Nevertheless, the claim ended up in Bush's State of the Union speech in January 2003.
After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Wilson began speaking with journalists on background about how his Niger findings had diverged from Bush's State of the Union claim. Libby, a leading architect of the Iraq War, learned about Wilson's criticism and began passing on negative information about Wilson to Miller.
Miller, who said she regarded Libby as "a good-faith source, who was usually straight with me," met with him on June 23, 2003, in the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House, according to the Times chronology. At that meeting, "Ms. Miller said her notes leave open the possibility that Mr. Libby told her Mr. Wilson's wife might work at the agency," the Times reported.
But Libby provided clearer details at a second meeting on July 8, 2003, two days after Wilson went public in an Op-Ed piece about his criticism of Bush's use of the Niger allegations. At a breakfast at the St. Regis Hotel near the White House, Libby told Miller that Wilson's wife worked at a CIA unit known as Winpac, for weapons intelligence, nonproliferation and arms control, the Times reported.
Miller's notebook, the one used for that interview, contained a reference to "Valerie Flame," an apparent misspelling of Mrs. Wilson's maiden name. In the Times account, Miller said she told Fitzgerald's grand jury that she believed the name didn't come from Libby but from another source. But Miller claimed she couldn't recall the source's name.
In a third conversation, by telephone on July 12, 2003, Miller and Libby returned to the Wilson topic. Miller's notes contain a reference to a "Victoria Wilson," another misspelled reference to Wilson's wife, Miller said.
Two days later, on July 14, 2003, conservative columnist Robert Novak publicly outed Plame as a CIA operative in an article that cited "two administration sources" and tried to discredit Wilson's findings on the grounds that his wife had recommended him for the Niger mission.
Miller never wrote an article about the Wilson-Plame affair although she claimed she "made a strong recommendation to my editor" for a story after Novak's column appeared, but was rebuffed.
Times managing editor Jill Abramson, who was Washington bureau chief in summer 2003, said Miller never made such a recommendation, and Miller said she wouldn't divulge the name of the editor who supposedly said no, the Times chronology said.
The aluminum-tube story was one of six articles that prompted a post-invasion Times self-criticism. Miller wrote or co-wrote five of the six articles that were deemed overly credulous of the U.S. government's point of view.
"In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged," the Times editor's note said. [NYT, May 26, 2004]
Source Protection
After 85 days in jail resisting a federal subpoena, Miller finally agreed to testify about her three conversations with Libby regarding Ambassador Wilson's criticism of another high-profile administration WMD claim, that Iraq had been seeking enriched uranium from the African nation of Niger.
In 2002, Cheney's office expressed interest in a dubious report from Italy claiming that Iraq was trying to buy "yellowcake" uranium in Niger. Reacting to Cheney's concern, the CIA dispatched Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador in Africa, to check out the allegations.
Wilson returned believing that the claim was most likely baseless, an opinion shared by other U.S. government experts. Nevertheless, the claim ended up in Bush's State of the Union speech in January 2003.
After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Wilson began speaking with journalists on background about how his Niger findings had diverged from Bush's State of the Union claim. Libby, a leading architect of the Iraq War, learned about Wilson's criticism and began passing on negative information about Wilson to Miller.
Miller, who said she regarded Libby as "a good-faith source, who was usually straight with me," met with him on June 23, 2003, in the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House, according to the Times chronology. At that meeting, "Ms. Miller said her notes leave open the possibility that Mr. Libby told her Mr. Wilson's wife might work at the agency," the Times reported.
But Libby provided clearer details at a second meeting on July 8, 2003, two days after Wilson went public in an Op-Ed piece about his criticism of Bush's use of the Niger allegations. At a breakfast at the St. Regis Hotel near the White House, Libby told Miller that Wilson's wife worked at a CIA unit known as Winpac, for weapons intelligence, nonproliferation and arms control, the Times reported.
Miller's notebook, the one used for that interview, contained a reference to "Valerie Flame," an apparent misspelling of Mrs. Wilson's maiden name. In the Times account, Miller said she told Fitzgerald's grand jury that she believed the name didn't come from Libby but from another source. But Miller claimed she couldn't recall the source's name.
In a third conversation, by telephone on July 12, 2003, Miller and Libby returned to the Wilson topic. Miller's notes contain a reference to a "Victoria Wilson," another misspelled reference to Wilson's wife, Miller said.
Two days later, on July 14, 2003, conservative columnist Robert Novak publicly outed Plame as a CIA operative in an article that cited "two administration sources" and tried to discredit Wilson's findings on the grounds that his wife had recommended him for the Niger mission.
Miller never wrote an article about the Wilson-Plame affair although she claimed she "made a strong recommendation to my editor" for a story after Novak's column appeared, but was rebuffed.
Times managing editor Jill Abramson, who was Washington bureau chief in summer 2003, said Miller never made such a recommendation, and Miller said she wouldn't divulge the name of the editor who supposedly said no, the Times chronology said.
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