US journalist was jailed for refusing to reveal source before court

LAHORE: As far as Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan’s claim that an American court had once ordered a reporter to reveal her source is concerned, he is absolutely spot on because a “New York Times” journalist, Judith Miller (born 1948), was jailed for contempt over a decade ago for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury, which was investigating a story that had publicly divulged the identity of a CIA officer Valerie Plame.

While Miller never wrote about Plame, she was believed to be in possession of evidence relevant to the leak investigation. The court had thus asked her to testify and reveal her source but she did not.

Hence, on October 1, 2004, a federal judge had found Judith Miller in contempt of court. Judge Hogan had sentenced Miller to 18 months in jail, but stayed the sentence while her appeal proceeded.

On February 15, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld Judge Hogan’s ruling.

On June 17, 2005, the US Supreme Court had declined to hear the case.

On July 6, 2005, Judge Hogan had ordered Miller to serve her sentence at a suitable jail within the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia.

According to a subpoena, journalist Miller had met with an unnamed government official, later revealed to be “Lewis Scooter Libby,” who was American Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff.

Prior to her jailing for civil contempt, Miller’s lawyers argued that it was pointless to imprison her because she would never talk or reveal confidential sources. Under such circumstances, argued her lawyers, jail term would be “merely punitive” and would serve no purpose.  Arguing that Miller should be confined to her home and could forego internet access and cellphone use, Miller’s lawyers suggested that “impairing her unrestricted ability to do her job as an investigative journalist ... would present the strictest form of coercion to her.

Actually, agent Valerie’s CIA identity was revealed in a column by conservative political commentator Robert Novak on July 14, 2003.

Probe showed Novak’s source was Richard Armitage of the Department of State, but Miller had to pay the price for defying a court order primarily.

On September 17, 2005, the “Washington Post” had reported that Miller had received a “parade of prominent government and media officials” during her first 11 weeks in prison, including visits by former US Republican Senator Bob Dole.

After her release on September 29, 2005, Miller agreed to disclose to the grand jury the identity of her source, who turned out to be Lewis Scooter Libby, US Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff.

On Tuesday, January 30, 2007, Miller took the stand as a witness for the prosecution against Libby. According to the “New York Times,” when asked if Libby discussed Valerie Plame, Miller had responded in the affirmative.

On June 5, 2007, the presiding trial judge, Reggie Walton, had sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and two years of supervised release, including 400 hours of community service.

On July 2, 2007, President Bush had commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence, leaving the other parts of his sentence intact.

But on December 10, 2007, Libby’s lawyers announced that he would drop his appeal against his conviction in the case, leaving intact his remaining sentence and fine and leaving on his record his felony conviction, on condition of a full presidential pardon.

The next day, December 11, 2007, President Bush issued 29 pardons but did not include Libby among them. His licence to practice law was also suspended. Judith Miller had to resign from job in October 2005.

Earlier, she had become embroiled in controversy after her coverage of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programme and had acknowledged in the “Wall Street Journal” on April 4, 2015 that some of her “New York Times” coverage was inaccurate. Time proved that it was the inaccurate US media coverage that had led to the 2003 American invasion of Iraq.