Jason Epstein, Judith Miller's Husband, Says She Was 'Not Dragged Off in Chains'

By: Joe Strupp Just hours after watching his wife, New York Times reporter Judith Miller, hauled off to jail for refusing to reveal her source in the Valerie Plame case, legendary book and magazine editor Jason Epstein told E&P it would have taken putting "a gun to her head" to make her think about revealing her source.

He did not yet know which jail she had been sent to, but said the judge had agreed to keep her out of a Washington, D.C. city jail and instead put her in a jail in the nearby metro area. "I haven't seen her since," he said. "I won't be able to see her this weekend. But as soon as they let me, I will sit down and talk to her."

E&P reached Epstein on Miller's cell phone, which she handed to her husband prior to her court appearance. He was in the law office of Washington, D.C. attorney Robert Bennett.

Epstein, who was next to Miller when Hogan ordered her taken away, said he had almost no time to say goodbye. "They took her through a door, she was their property," he recalled. "I think she was right to stand up on her principles and she knew that, she took her punishment."

Her husband said Miller was "surrounded by marshals and well-wishers" and "was not dragged off in chains. She was prepared for it. I'm not sure I would have done as well."

He also described her as being "made of steel" and believed she would handle life behind bars well.

"She was quite prepared to take the consequences and the judge had no choice, she understood that," Epstein told E&P less than two hours after Miller was ordered to jail. "They promised to take good care of her."

Epstein, who has been married to her for 11 years, said she believed that she had to protect her source, but also realized that jail was the only option.

"I don't see how it could have been avoided because the law is the law," he said. "She exhausted her appeals and had no place left to go. When she made up her mind, I don't think you could change it if you put a gun to her head."

Miller was sentenced to up to 120 days in jail by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan for refusing to reveal the source that leaked to her the identity of CIA Agent Valerie Plame. The sentence followed months of legal appeals, which ended when the U.S, Supreme Court declined to hear her case on June 27.