Miller Defends Libby ID and WMD Reporting on NPR

By: E&P Staff Appearing on NPR's "Morning Edition" Friday, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller got into a couple of heated exchanges with interviewer Renee Montagne, mainly over Scooter Libby's request that he be identified as a "former Hill staffer" rather than as an administration official.

Miller denied it, making the distinction that "I agreed to listen to the information in that way, and that's all," and might have asked him to change his ID later. She said this was "very common in Washington."

Clearly surprised, the interviewer asked if she does this frequently. Miller then replied, "No, I did not say I do it. I said it is often done in Washington, especially in the National Security area."

When asked if this didn't reveal a certain coziness with sources, Miller responded, "Renee, I am not going to argue with you about this."

Asked about criticism of her WMD reporting, she replied: "What are editors for?" She also said that she fully disagreed with the Times suggesting that her WMD reporting was "inadequate."

She also bristled when reminded of former colleague Maureen Dowd's charge that Miller going to jail was in part a career rehabilitaton move. "Anyone who asserts that knows nothing about jail, nothing about me," Milller said. "It was insulting and it was painful and it was untrue." Miller revealed last night that Dowd had visited her in jail.

Here is the transcript of the interview:

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Intro: Again, reporter Judith Miller was with The New York Times which published stories using Ahmad Chalabi as a source. I asked her about criticism of her work.

JM: If you're sources are wrong, you're going to be wrong. You do the best you can to vet the information and I was wrong. Some of those stories were wrong because they were based on faulty intelligence.

NPR: The New York Times has an editor's note that itself says that reporting was not rigorous and overly credulous.

JM: What are editors for? You know, I disagree with certain conclusions of the editor's note. I think the editors who were in charge of the WMD reporting and of the other pre-war intelligence had left the paper by the time that editor's note appeared. It was the new management that came in and made a determination on the basis of what, I don't know, that there was insufficient vetting and editing of these stories.

NPR: Are you disagreeing with The New York Times that your reporting was inadequate?

JM: Yes, yes I am. It was the best that I could do at the time. I disagree not with the desire to set the record straight - that was a good thing to do. But I don't think you do that by just saying we were wrong and by chest beating, you do it by going out and doing more journalism.

NPR: You were a central figure in that CIA leak probe. You testified to the Grand Jury that you believed you did not first hear Valerie Plame's name from Lewis Libby. Do you now have a better idea who gave you that name in the first place?

JM: First of all, I'm not going to talk about anything connected with the case itself. I can talk to you?

NPR: You did write about it...you did write about it in The New York Times...

JM: I can talk to you about what I've written. I just don't remember who specifically I spoke to other than my conversations with Mr. Libby because those happen to be the ones that were in my notebook. The other references to Valerie Plame in my notebook were floating, they are not connected to any other interview.

NPR: In your reporting of it you agreed to identify Lewis Libby as a former Hill staffer?

JM: No, I did not. I agreed to listen to the information in that way. And that's all. ... What it means is that I agreed to listen to Mr. Libby's information on the basis of his attribution as a former Hill staffer. It is very common in Washington to hear information on the basis of one attribution, and then to go back to that source, if you're going to use that information, and say, you know, this attribution really won't fly, let's come up with something that more accurately reflects your job and what you do. That's what every?

NPR: Does that work? Are you saying you do that frequently? Make an agreement to hear information under one?

JM: No, I did not say I do it, I said it is often done in Washington. Especially in the National Security area.

NPR: But it does suggest a coziness with sources?

JM: Renee, I am not going to argue with you about this. I never agreed to identify Mr. Libby in print in that way in any one of my stories.

NPR: Just one last question, why do you think that the people who are angry with you, including some of your quite well-known colleagues, are so angry with you? Maureen Dowd, who's a New York Times Op-Ed columnist...let me just quote her, she wrote that your going to jail was, in part, a career rehabilitation project, designed to get people's attention off your reporting on weapons of mass destruction.

JM: Anyone who asserts that knows nothing about jail, nothing about me. It was insulting and it was painful and it was untrue.