Judith goes to jail!

I'm just trying to get caught up with my blog posts on a busy week: Well, it's actually happened. New York Times reporter Judith Miller has been jailed by a US court for refusing to testify in an investigation into the unmasking of CIA agent Valerie Plame in 2003. As part of the grand jury hearings, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald successfully pressed the issue and got his way. Matt Cooper, meanwhile, said he's "received a 'somewhat dramatic' message from his source telling him he was free to testify." So Cooper, whose bosses at Time had already given up his notes to the special prosecutor, was off the hook. Fitzgerald "is investigating who in the Bush administration told the press Valerie Plame - the wife of former US ambassador who had criticised the president - was a CIA agent. Ms Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, had earlier attacked President George W Bush over evidence he had presented to justify the assault on Iraq. Mr Wilson later alleged that his wife's name was deliberately leaked in order to discredit him." (Latest indications are that the source was none other than Karl Rove himself.)

The consequences of this development could be dire for American journalism. The BBC quotes Bill Kovach of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, who "alleges that the case is part of a trend in which the government has sought to control the press's ability to cover its behaviour." States Kovach: "'There have been concerted efforts, especially by the Bush administration, to reduce the availability of information and to tone down the aggressiveness with which the press pursues it. . . . This is not just attributable to 9/11, but it appears to be a continuation of three decades of efforts.'"

See here for an AP report that also includes information on Robert Novak's role in all this.

Finally:

A "Valerie Plame incident" timeline, courtesy of the BBC:

"July 2003: Valerie Plame's work is revealed by conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak
"Sept 2003: Department of Justice launches probe into allegations that White House staff illegally blew her cover
"Feb 2005: Appeals court rules Miller and Cooper must testify about their sources to inquiry
"June 2005: Supreme Court refuses to take up the case."