Ex-reporter testifies in CIA case

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A former New York Times reporter who went to jail to protect a confidential source has testified against that source, a former White House official.

Judith Miller, the ex-reporter, took the stand in the high-profile case of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Mr Libby is charged with lying to an investigation into who leaked secret information to the press. He denies it.

His defence team attacked Ms Miller's memory of events in cross-examination.

She had testified that Mr Libby first told her in late June 2003 that the wife of an administration critic was a CIA operative.

Syndicated writer Robert Novak published a column three weeks later saying that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA - after her husband Joseph Wilson publicly claimed the Bush administration had misused intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war.

It is a crime to knowingly disclose the identity of an undercover agent, and an investigation was launched into who leaked Ms Plame's identity to the press.

Dramatic testimony

No-one was ever charged with the leak, but Mr Libby was charged with lying to investigators and obstructing the investigation.

Mr Libby's lawyers say he made honest mistakes

He claims he first learned Ms Plame worked for the CIA from NBC newsman Tim Russert on 10 July 2003.

At least five prosecution witnesses have now disputed that claim, telling the jury either that they told him of Ms Plame earlier than that or that they heard the news from him before that date.

Ms Miller's testimony was among the most dramatic to date because she went to jail rather than tell leak investigators where she learned of Ms Plame's CIA connection.

She served 85 days in prison in the summer and autumn of 2004 for contempt of court - an incident that highlighted the media's tradition of protecting confidential sources.

Miller backers say her imprisonment was particularly unjust because she never published anything about Ms Plame.

'Vendetta' accusation

On Tuesday, she said Mr Libby first told her about Ms Plame on 23 June 2003.

He gave her more information about Ms Plame on 8 July 2003, she said - after Mr Wilson went public with his criticism of the White House and before the Novak column.

Mr Wilson and Ms Plame allege they were the objects of a White House vendetta because of Mr Wilson's criticism.

Mr Libby's lawyers say any inconsistencies in what he told investigators were the result of honest lapses in memory by a very busy public official.

Another prosecution witness - Mr Libby's successor as Mr Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington - said on Tuesday Mr Libby had once told him: "I didn't do it."

Mr Addington said he did not ask what "it" was.