alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

July 31, 2005

Quid Pro Quo

by kim @ 5:56 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

Anonymous Liberal has a provocative post about Judith Miller, and her role in the leak of Valerie Plame’s covert identity. While A.L. is focusing on the notion that Miller laundered the leak through her own contacts, there are other forms of active roles she may have played that don’t go to that extent.

Here’s an example from All The President’s Men that suggests how reporters get caught up in political dirtywork: (All The President’s Men, page 54)

On the freeway, a billboard caught his eye. It pictured a handsome, thirtyish, blond man who looked like a model in a cigarette ad. “Vote for Neal Sonnett, State’s Attorney, Dade County,” it said. Bernstein’s anger at the chief investigator turned to rage.

A couple of weeks before, Dardis had called him for a favor. “It’s on a case we’re working, not related to Watergate,” he had told Bernstein. “You must have some friends at the Pentagon or somewhere in the military. If you could get somebody to look up the records for you… ” Then he asked for any possible derogatory information- arrests, mental illnesses, history of homosexuality- in the file of a Neal Sonnet.

A Pentagon colonel had agreed to try to get Sonnett’s military information for Bernstein, and just before the Republican convention Bernstein had called Dardis to tell him so. Fortunately, Dardis had said he didn’t need it any more.

In this case Bernstein was willing to get damaging material on a source’s political opponent, though he makes it clear that he didn’t know what use the information would be put, and would probably not have approved if he’d known.

I use this example to suggest the possibility that Miller may not have been the source of the leak, but if all the facts came out, she wouldn’t look 100% above-board either.

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