Former Miller Colleague Called Her An 'Advocate' and Threat to 'Integrity'

By: E&P Staff In his column in The Washington Post Monday, Howard Kurtz reveals that Craig Pyes, a former contract writer for the Times (now with the Los Angeles Times) who teamed up with Judith Miller for a series on al-Qaeda, complained about her in a December 2000 memo to Times editors. In the memo, he asked that his byline not appear on one piece.

"I'm not willing to work further on this project with Judy Miller. ... I do not trust her work, her judgment, or her conduct. She is an advocate, and her actions threaten the integrity of the enterprise, and of everyone who works with her. ... She has turned in a draft of a story of a collective enterprise that is little more than dictation from government sources over several days, filled with unproven assertions and factual inaccuracies," and "tried to stampede it into the paper."

Pyes told Kurtz yesterday he had no problem with the articles as published, which helped win one of two Pulitzer Prizes he shared at the paper. Miller did not respond to a phone message from Kurtz, and her attorney declined to comment.