New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed 85 days for refusing to testify in CIA leak investigation
On July 6, 2005, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for contempt after she refused to identify her source to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury investigating the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Miller was released after 85 days on September 29, 2005, after her source I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby provided a personal waiver. Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper also faced contempt; he testified after his source Karl Rove released him.
Dates: Subpoenas issued May–August 2004; contempt orders August 9, 2004 (Hogan, D.D.C.); D.C. Circuit affirmed February 15, 2005 (In re Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 397 F.3d 964); Supreme Court denied cert June 27, 2005; Miller jailed July 6, 2005; Miller testified and released September 29, 2005. Individuals and organizations: Judith Miller (NYT); Matthew Cooper (Time); Tim Russert (NBC); Bob Woodward (WaPo); Robert Novak; Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald; U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan; I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby (source for Miller); Karl Rove (source for Cooper); Richard Armitage (Novak's source). What happened: Special Counsel Fitzgerald, appointed October 2003, investigated the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity following her husband Joseph Wilson's public contradiction of Bush administration Iraq-uranium claims. Fitzgerald subpoenaed multiple journalists. Cooper and Miller were held in contempt August 2004; the D.C. Circuit affirmed February 2005, finding no First Amendment or federal common-law privilege shields reporters from grand jury subpoenas in leak investigations. Supreme Court declined to review. Miller was jailed July 6, 2005; she was released September 29 after Libby personally waived confidentiality. Cooper testified after Time turned over documents and Rove waived confidentiality. Russert and Woodward provided limited testimony after source waivers. Novak had cooperated secretly with Fitzgerald. Legal authority used: Federal grand jury subpoenas; civil contempt power of federal court. Outcome: Miller served 85 days, then the longest jail term for a U.S. journalist protecting a source. Libby convicted March 6, 2007 of perjury, obstruction, and false statements; sentence commuted by President Bush July 2007. No Intelligence Identities Protection Act charges filed. Why it matters: Confidential journalistic sources were directly at issue. The In re Miller D.C. Circuit ruling remains the leading federal precedent rejecting a federal common-law reporter's privilege in grand jury proceedings. Generated bipartisan but unsuccessful pushes for a federal shield law.