# Judy Miller-Bob Woodward question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [November 16, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404 "2005-11-16T22:56:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/1 "2005-11-16T22:56:16Z")
Judy goes to prison because she wouldn’t reveal a condifential source regarding the Plame outing.
Bob Woodward won’t reveal his confidential source about the Plame outing and he’s walking around, happy as a lark, and no one’s threatening him with contempt of court and jail.
No one is even _talking_ about the contempt-\>jail possiblity for Woodward.
It shouldn’t matter who leaked first - Libby or Woodward’s unnamed source. If they both did, then they both committed a serious crime and both should go to jail.
Someone please enlighten me.
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/2 "2005-11-16T23:01:46Z")
I don’t think Bob Woodward is involved at all in the Plame case. Are you sure you don’t mean Bob Novak? Woodward did have a confidential source reveal government secrets to him 30-some years ago on another matter, if I recall correctly.
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/3 "2005-11-16T23:14:16Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#):
>
> I don’t think Bob Woodward is involved at all in the Plame case. Are you sure you don’t mean Bob Novak? Woodward did have a confidential source reveal government secrets to him 30-some years ago on another matter, if I recall correctly.
\
Please see the story in the Washington Post at
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/16/AR2005111601286.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/16/AR2005111601286.html)
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/4 "2005-11-16T23:17:27Z")
Excerpt from the Washington Post story…
Woodward Apologizes to Post for Withholding Knowledge of Plame
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 16, 2005; 1:18 PM
Bob Woodward apologized today to The Washington Post’s executive editor for failing to tell him for more than two years that a senior Bush administration official had told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame, even as an investigation of those leaks mushroomed into a national scandal.
Woodward, an assistant managing editor and best-selling author, said he told Leonard Downie Jr. that he held back the information because he was worried about being subpoenaed by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel in the case.
Bob Woodward is not naming his government source, citing confidentiality.
“I apologized because I should have told him about this much sooner,” Woodward said in an interview. "I explained in detail that I was trying to protect my sources. That’s Job No. 1 in a case like this. . . .
“I hunkered down. I’m in the habit of keeping secrets. I didn’t want anything out there that was going to get me subpoenaed.”
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/5 "2005-11-16T23:17:41Z")
See what happens if you don’t get your morning paper? 🙂
---
### Author:  [@E72521](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E72521)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/6 "2005-11-17T00:32:01Z")
He did tell the grand jury who the source is but is not going to reveal who the source is to the public.
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/7 "2005-11-17T00:38:28Z")
> [@E72521](#):
>
> He did tell the grand jury who the source is but is not going to reveal who the source is to the public.
So, if he revealed this Administration Source to the Grand Jury, why not indict the Adminitration Source—maybe Cheney?
---
### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/8 "2005-11-17T00:39:52Z")
> [@E = mc²](#):
>
> It shouldn’t matter who leaked first - Libby or Woodward’s unnamed source. If they both did, then they both committed a serious crime and both should go to jail.
Well, maybe they committed a crime. Nobody has been charged with breaking the law by leaking the info. Scooter Libby is charged with lying about what he did. Anyway, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Woodward’s source was probably Rove and wonder how this plays into the investigation of Rove (or anyone else).
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/9 "2005-11-17T00:45:11Z")
And Andrew Card, too.
---
### Author:  [@Lynwood\_Slim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynwood_Slim)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/10 "2005-11-17T03:48:39Z")
It does not seem to have been Andrew Card, according to Woodward:
> **[Washington Post's Woodward Apologizes for Lapse on Leak (Published 2005)](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/politics/washington-posts-woodward-apologizes-for-lapse-on-leak.html)**
>
> Bob Woodward testified that an administration official told him about Valerie Wilson's identity before it was disclosed.
And Rove’s attorneys say it is not he. That would be ludicrous to announce if it were, indeed Rove, so it is likely not Rove either.
And it is not clear that anyone broke the law in revealing Plame’s identity. Nothing in Fitz. indictment seems to say so.
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/11 "2005-11-17T03:56:51Z")
How about Dubya?
Woodward sucks up to him for his book writing.
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/12 "2005-11-17T03:57:59Z")
Nah. Cheney
---
### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/13 "2005-11-17T04:33:30Z")
> [@Lynwood Slim](#):
>
> And Rove’s attorneys say it is not he. That would be ludicrous to announce if it were, indeed Rove, so it is likely not Rove either.
Libby’s lawyers said it wasn’t Libby.
---
### Author:  [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/14 "2005-11-17T05:02:32Z")
> [@E = mc²](#):
>
> How about Dubya?
The WH denied it was Bush. Considering the fate that’s befallen Libby, I think we can safely say that all straight forward denials at this point are probably truthful.
Cheney has declined to comment, so he’s still a possiblilty.
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/15 "2005-11-17T11:52:53Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#):
>
> See what happens if you don’t get your morning paper? 🙂
You’ve gotta watch Chris Matthews’ Hardball, Captain. 😛
He’s a Republican, but Chris is really out to nail everyone associated with the CIA leak, plus the liars and schemers who got us into the Iraq war. I TiVo it automatically, and usually wait till the program is on disk before watching it so we can zip through the commercials. But yesterday, with all the news bubbling up, I couldn’t wait and watched it live.
Another good online source for this is
[http://talkingpointsmemo.com/](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/)
Right this minute there’s a neat little story on just what Fitz said about Libby being the first to leak. Actually, he chose his words very carefully. See for yourself. Libby’s lawyers have nothing to crow about.
---
### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/16 "2005-11-17T12:01:26Z")
> [@E = mc²](#):
>
> You’ve gotta watch Chris Matthews’ Hardball, Captain. 😛
>
> He’s a Republican…
I don’t think so?!
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/17 "2005-11-17T12:46:23Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#):
>
> I don’t think so?!
I can see how this could surprise you. It did me, too, the first time I heard him admit it. He’s not ashamed of his political leaning, of course. He just doesn’t flaunt it.
But in watching him for a good while, I’ve often heard him say he’s a Republican.
When privatizing Social Security was an issue, he asked almost wistfully on Hardball, “What about Republicans like me who want their Social Security program just the way it is?” or words to that effect.
I know he worked in the White House for a Dem, but he is not a Democrat now (if he ever was back then).
---
### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/18 "2005-11-17T20:50:10Z")
> [@E = mc²](#):
>
> Bob Woodward is not naming his government source, citing confidentiality.
Washington \*lives \* by the leak. Like [this one](http://rawstory.com/news/2005/National_Security_Adviser_was_Woodwards_source_1116.html):
> [@](#):
>
> National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley was the senior administration official who told Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward that Valerie Plame Wilson was a CIA officer, attorneys close to the investigation and intelligence officials tell RAW STORY.
>
> Testifying under oath Monday to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Woodward recounted a casual conversation he had with Hadley, these sources say. Hadley did not return a call seeking comment.
Just gossip, of course. But the “Libby was a lone bad apple” excuse ain’t gonna fly.
---
### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/19 "2005-11-17T21:32:15Z")
> [@E = mc²](#):
>
> You’ve gotta watch Chris Matthews’ Hardball, Captain. 😛
>
> He’s a Republican, but Chris is really out to nail everyone associated with the CIA leak, plus the liars and schemers who got us into the Iraq war. I TiVo it automatically, and usually wait till the program is on disk before watching it so we can zip through the commercials. But yesterday, with all the news bubbling up, I couldn’t wait and watched it live.
>
> Another good online source for this is
>
> [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/)
>
> Right this minute there’s a neat little story on just what Fitz said about Libby being the first to leak. Actually, he chose his words very carefully. See for yourself. Libby’s lawyers have nothing to crow about.
Wow. I didn’t realize that Jimmy Carter had a Republican speech writer, or that Tip O’Neill, Frank Moss, and Edmund Muskie hired Republican staffers.
No, he’s a Democrat although he’s voted Republican from time to time. You can be guaranteed he voted for Kerry in '04 (although he did vote for Bush in '00).
And he’s on a one man crusade concerning this issue. It’s getting tiring. Did you notice yesterday that Richard Cohen (hardly a Bush supporter) said this whole issue was a tempest in a teapot and this is simply the way Washington works-- always has and always will?
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404/20 "2005-11-17T22:16:50Z")
> [@John Mace](#):
>
> Wow. I didn’t realize that Jimmy Carter had a Republican speech writer, or that Tip O’Neill, Frank Moss, and Edmund Muskie hired Republican staffers.
>
> No, he’s a Democrat although he’s voted Republican from time to time. You can be guaranteed he voted for Kerry in '04 (although he did vote for Bush in '00).
>
> And he’s on a one man crusade concerning this issue. It’s getting tiring. Did you notice yesterday that Richard Cohen (hardly a Bush supporter) said this whole issue was a tempest in a teapot and this is simply the way Washington works-- always has and always will?
Yes. But outing a CIA agent isn’t business as usual.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-miller-bob-woodward-question/331404.md?page=2)