The Vault That Is Judy Miller

Judy Miller‘s filing to the court prior to today’s appearance took a different approach from Matt Cooper’s Superdad approach. Her accompanying letters, along with two sealed exhibits, focus on her controversial work in Iraq and how it proves that she will never give up a source–hence, in this case, coercive punishment and confinement is unwarranted because she’ll never be coerced.

A letter jointly signed by eight Army officers with whom Miller was embedded in Iraq explains that Miller will never reveal a confidential source–in fact, they grew to trust her BECAUSE of their understanding that secrets stayed secret with Miller.

“Judy Miller was the only embedded reported entrusted with the details of one of the most sensitive operations in the war in Iraq–the hunt for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). As the sole embed with the 75th Exploitation Task Force, she was routinely exposed to secret information, which is compromised would have endangered both operational and national security. Ms. Miller would never reveal what she learned, how she learned, or from whom she learned it. This was important to us,” they wrote.

David H. Petraeus, one of the war’s top generals, offered a three-paragraph defense of her, arguing that she has a “deep personal commitment to her work and values as an American citizen. Based on my interaction with her, I find it unlikely that Judith would compromise on those values, to include betraying information gained in confidence from her sources. My sense is that she is equally incapable of consciously reporting information that would threaten American national security. Judith is clearly a highly professional journalist, one who has demonstrated to me that she will keep her word.”

Miller’s argument is unique for a variety of reasons–we’ll let legal scholars argue why and whether it’s effective–but it is worth noting that Miller’s role here is especially strange: she never reported or wrote anything about Valerie Plame.

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