Officials unaware of reporter's special status

[hang a left]

Officials unaware of reporter's special status
NY Times' Miller wrote she had 'security clearance' for Iraq WMD reporting

NBC News
Updated: 4:01 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2005


Jim Miklaszewski
Correspondent

WASHINGTON — Officials from the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon say they have no idea what New York Times reporter Judith Miller was talking about when she claimed to have been given a "security clearance" while she was embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Iraq in 2003.

In a first-person account of her recent testimony before a federal grand jury, published in the newspaper on Sunday, Miller wrote the Pentagon had given her "clearance to see secret information as part of my assignment 'embedded' with a special military unit hunting for unconventional weapons."

According to the officials, they know of no instance or circumstance when a reporter has been, or would be, granted a security clearance and believed she would not have been given one when she was embedded with the unit that was tasked with finding Iraqi WMDs immediately after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Pentagon officials say they are continuing to check whether Miller had been granted a security clearance of any kind.

snip>
The officials spoke to NBC on condition of anonymity.

snip>
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9730308/

[texpatriot2004]

1. So she was secretly given a secret pass to secret info. n.t

[displacedtexan]

14. Or is she just a Pure D dumbass?

Her baby talkin', too-cute-for-her-age self may just be dumb enough to believe that clearance to attend a briefing 2 years ago means she has a DOD security clearance.

Or does she just play a dumbass on TV and in print?

And why doesn't she have a publisher yet?

[Verve]

23. Exactly! Is she really that stupid, or is she making a stupid excuse for

Libby's criminal stupidity?

"In her account, Miller wrote, “I told Mr. Fitzgerald that Mr. Libby might have thought I still had security clearance, given my special embedded status in Iraq.” "

I almost get the feeling she exaggerates the truth to boost her own self importance. I can't stand people like that!

[Marr]

25. I'm beginning to think that's the case.

She seems incompetent to the point of outright stupidity.

[Wilms]

2. I sure hope the DU popcorn server holds up.

:popcorn:

[xultar]

3. I don't know about ya'll but Scooter neekid came to mind reading

this story.

[peacebird]

37. eeeewwwwww.... Scooter neekid?

:puke:

[highplainsdem]

4. Officials unaware of reporter's special status

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9730308/


Officials unaware of reporter's special status
NY Times' Miller wrote she had 'security clearance' for Iraq WMD reporting


By Jim Miklaszewski
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 4:01 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2005


WASHINGTON — Officials from the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon say they have no idea what New York Times reporter Judith Miller was talking about when she claimed to have been given a "security clearance" while she was embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Iraq in 2003.

In a first-person account of her recent testimony before a federal grand jury, published in the newspaper on Sunday, Miller wrote the Pentagon had given her "clearance to see secret information as part of my assignment 'embedded' with a special military unit hunting for unconventional weapons."

According to the officials, they know of no instance or circumstance when a reporter has been, or would be, granted a security clearance and believed she would not have been given one when she was embedded with the unit that was tasked with finding Iraqi WMDs immediately after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Pentagon officials say they are continuing to check whether Miller had been granted a security clearance of any kind.

<snip>

[NVMojo]

9. what a crock of crap!

[Toots]

38. So now she has lied to the Grand Jury

I'm sure Scooter told her she would have proper clearances but had no real authority to grant her those clearances. Now she will take the fall unless he comes clean and tells the Jury he told her that, or else she is a covert agent herself embedded in the NY Times to mold the news. I actually think the latter may be true and that is another reason this is all coming apart.

[htuttle]

5. On the one hand, there's the careerists. On the other, the politicals

And one hand doesn't always know what the other is doing.

I'll bet it was a 'double-secret' security clearance...

[mikeytherat]

12. dodeca-secret probation, er, security clearance

signed by Rumsferatu himself.

mikey_the_rat

[UpInArms]

16. just my thoughts on that htuttle!

The "double-secret" raises its scaly head once again!

Is this like the "double-secret" that Cooper had with Rove?

[Uncle Joe]

27. Probably along the lines of Gannon/Guckert's super duper double

secret with a cherry on top.

[Roy]

29. you gotta be kiddin' me!!

Gannon/Guckert and cherry in the same sentence!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Uncle Joe]

31. Okay, so would you believe nuts on top. n/t

[Roy]

36. Now that i will buy

:rofl:

[Oreo]

6. Did Rummy not follow protocol?

Methinks this would be a form of espionage to override the normal process to give a security clearance. Somebody posted earlier that Rumsfeld signed off on the clearance... true?

[ewagner]

7. she got a special badge

from a box of Crackerjacks that said Super Secret Agent .

seriously...better check with Rummy because he PERSONALLY signed off on her imbedding agreement.

[RaulGroom]

8. DIA, CIA, and DoD didn't give it to her

So who did? Gee, I can't imagine what organization might have extended Judith Miller special access. Definitely not the same organization that allowed a male prostitue to stay overnight several times.

Definitely not.

[MADem]

15. What's left, really?

NSA and the White House. Uh-oh!!! That gets just a LITTLE TOO CLOSE to the throne, doesn't it???

These ace reporters must be reading this website! http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1853828

[NashVegas]

10. From a 2004 Article Reposted on Talking Points Memo

According to Pomeroy, as well as an editor at the Times, Miller had helped negotiate her own embedding agreement with the Pentagon—an agreement so sensitive that, according to one Times editor, Rumsfeld himself signed off on it.

[mtnester]

11. Hangin Judy out to dry

when you run with the devil girl...

[MADem]

17. But she is Miss Judy Run Amok!!!!!

That is how she termed herself at the NYT!!! If she is as mean, nasty and aggressive as her reputation, I wonder if she will go quietly. I think she'll take them with her--it would seem to be her style.

[CHIMO]

13. Should The New York Times Fire Judith Miller and Apologize to Readers?

Should The New York Times Fire Judith Miller and Apologize to Readers?


AMY GOODMAN: Were you surprised by her Pentagon clearance?

GREG MITCHELL: No. We reported it – I believe we were first to report it in September 2003. In fact, we have sort of rerun that article on our web site today, in which we revealed that status and raised questions about it at the time. The reason it's significant – and I'm sure some listeners are wondering why that's significant in the Plame case – is because as the Times articles this weekend made clear, as Miller admitted, Libby discussed classified information with her. So, this would make him indictable for breaking the Espionage Act, particularly if she did not have any clearance. So, it's incredibly relevant to the Plame investigation right now.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/17/1422250

[UpInArms]

18. ah ha! So is she trying to float the theory that since she had

"clearance", Libby didn't commit an indictable offense?

[CHIMO]

22. From The Same

Interview on this mornings program.

Should The New York Times Fire Judith Miller and Apologize to Readers?

AMY GOODMAN: Michael Isikoff, your response, overall, but then specifically about what this means for Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, the reports this weekend in your rival, Time, that Karl Rove and Libby will either resign or take a paid leave of absence, if they're indicted.

MICHAEL ISIKOFF: That's inevitable. You can’t serve at a high level of the United States government in the White House if you are under indictment. So, I don't think it's any surprise. I think everybody would expect, if they are indicted, they would at a minimum have to take a temporary leave and couldn't continue to serve.

I – you know, look, clearly, the Judith Miller testimony, as described in her own account and in the Times article, is problematic for Libby. I mean, it clearly implicates him in discussing Joe Wilson's wife's employment at the C.I.A. prior to the time that it was – to the Robert Novak column, and that's been a central thrust to the investigation.

What's fascinating, if you read Judy Miller's account closely, is it's very clear she is still trying to be protective of Scooter Libby, and in fact, as I sort of reread it this morning, I saw point by point where, if she is on the stand, as presumably she would be, if Libby gets indicted and the case goes to trial, the defense lawyer for Libby could go through her account and find passages where she is giving information that could be helpful to Libby's defense. She has the classified clearance. He didn't mention that she was a covert operative. In fact, she assumed from what he told her that she was an analyst, and not an operative. Point by point, you can go through that, and you know, I think – and my guess is that Judy Miller is, you know, agonizing, herself, didn't want to testify at all, still feels a loyalty to her source, and is still trying to be protective of him.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/17/1422250

[lanlady]

20. even so--

A DoD Secret clearance doesn't have much mileage. Judy would not be "need to know"/entitled to highly classified CIA information. You can't just buy yourself an upgrade, like jumping to business class on an airplane or opting for the "Deluxe" version of Quicken. Libby is screwed no matter what, because his clearance level unlike Judy's did give him access to such information and he grossly mishandled our government's most tightly guarded secrets.

[BrotherBuzz]

19. Maybe it was one of those "Double super secret background " clearances

:shrug:

[Kablooie]

21. It's looking more like she was a planted shill ...

Not really a reporter. It's adding up to the conclusion that she was a controlled voicepiece for Bushco while giving the impression of being an unbiased reporter.

[AndyTiedye]

28. Which Would Explain The Lack of Management Control over Judy

[smoogatz]

30. I wouldn't be surprised if she was on Bushco's payroll.

I think she's part and parcel of the conspiracy, both to out Plame and to sell the fiction of Iraqi WMDs.

[targetpractice]

35. Which would also explain Libby's closing line in his letter...

He wrote to Miller, "Come back to work... and life."

Which immediately struck me as odd.

"Come back to work" is something her boss or colleague would say. Right? Wouldn't a third party write something like, "Go back to work" or "Go, be free... live your life." Sorta like the difference between "go home" vs."come home."

Libby's use of "come" vs. "go" sorta emphasized the "you're one of us" theme of the letter in my mind.

Thoughts?

[Vinnie From Indy]

24. When a multi-layered web of lies begins to unravel in earnest,

the participants have a hard time plugging the dyke. Efforts to staunch the tide in one hole causes another hole to begin leaking. Judy may simply have pulled a Novakula and her statement about having clearance might not have been thought through completely. What Mt. Everest sized irony that Novakula may have been the one that started the avalanche about to engulf the GOP.

As sure as the sun coming up tomorrow, liars MUST continue to tell new lies to cover old lies in cases like this.

[GeorgeGist]

26. And the secret decoder message said...

"Be sure to drink your Ovaltine KoolAid."

[jody]

32. If Miller told Libby she had a security clearance when she did not, she

committed a felony under 18 USC 1001.
QUOTE
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both
UNQUOTE

Martha Stewart was convicted on that charge.

[Peace Patriot]

33. I've been wondering about that special "embed" contract signed by...

...Donald Rumsfeld, since I first read about it some time ago (probably here at DU--can't remember what the sources are, but I seem to recall Miller herself may have said something about it, early on).

One reason it interested me is that Rumsfeld's name has not been connected to Treasongate, thus far. The "embed" contract connects him to Treasongate via Miller, who is connected to so many other things--the Plame outing, Chalabi, PNAC and the neocons, David Kelly; she even got an anthrax letter (an inert one).

So consider this scenario: Miller was assigned to be the one who "found" the WMDs that this cabal intended to plant in Iraq, to justify the war (and maybe in a long term plot involving the Niger forgeries, to "get" the CIA--trump them, call them fools, discredit them for pooh-poohing Iraqi nukes). Miller used her connection to Rumsfeld in Iraq to order the U.S. troops who were hunting WMDs around, to lead them by the nose, here and there, and became actually obnoxious to commanders in the field. When they balked, she threatened to report them to her uppermuck friends and protectors at the Pentagon.

She acted so sure that WMDs would be found--when everybody in the cabal knew there were none there. It was a pack of lies.

The weapons that they were going to plant didn't show up. No WMDs were ever found. If there was such a WMD-planting scheme, who foiled it?

My guess--in a theory worked up by me and others elsewhere at DU: Plame/Brewster-Jennings/CIA may have been the ones who foiled this highly deceitful and nefarious scheme, with David Kelly finding out about it, or participating in some way. That's why Plame and BJ got outed in the way it was done (precipitously, putting all the top Bushites at risk of treason charges; multiple contacts with reporters that week; careless exposure of so many; panicky behavior). And that's why Kelly got suicided. There was far more at stake here than an ex-diplomat's dissenting article, or Kelly's relatively mild statements to the BBC about exaggerated intel.

There is an interesting item in the Hutton report (the whitewash of Kelly's death) that Tony Blair was informed, on July 7, 2003, that Kelly (who had been whistleblowing to the BBC about the Brits' "sexed up" intel on Iraq) "could say some uncomfortable things." Not had said. COULD say. A week later Plame was outed. Four days later, Kelly was found dead (in highly suspicious circumstances). And four days after that (and after his office and computers were searched), on July 22, Novak outed the entire BJ operation, disabling all projects and putting all covert agents and contacts at great risk.

It smells to me like David Kelly was the trigger for the Plame outing, not Wilson's article (which was published July 6--and was expected by the Bushites).

In any case, if this is the true plot that Treasongate was a coverup for--a plot to plant WMDs in Iraq--and if Miller was up to her ears in it, as I think she was (was in on the planting of WMDs), then Rumsfeld is the one who set it up; he placed Miller in Iraq with those troops, and with security clearance and a special "embed" contract, that nobody else in gov't seems to know about.

Rumsfeld.

[HereSince1628]

34. If all the statements are true but intentionally misleading

We might conclude that Miller recieved the clearance as she said but not for her status as a reporter. From that we might speculate that she recieved it to support a different status, perhaps such as, undercover propaganda operative working for the White House Iraq Group, or perhaps as a OSP agent..