Upholding principles, ch. XXVIII

Good lord, every day another story in the Times on Judith Miller, each one written by another Times reporter (is this beat so ugly, the editors are assigning it on a rotating basis?). Each one telling us, if possible, less than the previous day's.

"I am very, very proud to be able to say that I got things that no other journalist has ever gotten out of a process like this," Ms. Miller told the newsroom. She said she believed that the blanket waiver Mr. Libby had offered other journalists was "a thing of the past."

Ms. Miller was introduced by Bill Keller, the executive editor, who said the newspaper planned to publish a full account of Ms. Miller's case. He said the article could appear as soon as this weekend.

"I know that you and our readers still have a lot of questions about how this drama unfolded," he told the staff members. He said the paper had been wary of revealing too much about the case for fear of compounding Ms. Miller's legal problems, but added, "Now that she's free, we intend to answer those questions to the best of our ability in a thoroughly reported piece in the pages of The New York Times, and soon. We owe it to our readers, and we owe it to you, our staff."

In an interview after her appearance, Ms. Miller said she would cooperate with the newspaper's reporters. She said she was uncertain whether she would write her own account, either in the newspaper or in a book. She also said she was exploring all the options, but she planned to first take some time off to urge Congress to pass a federal shield law to protect reporters with confidential sources.

She said she had not contemplated what it would be like to return to the paper and pick up her duties as a reporter, but added: "This is my clan, this is my tribe. I belong here."

I'm sure the Times' report on this will be just as thorough as their reporting on Miller's role in fomenting the war in Iraq.