Judy Miller negotiating a book deal about her Plamegate/prison experiences

[kentuck]

From Arianna:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/arianna-huffington/the-judy-file_4933.html

Besides being able to read and write, she's also able to make long-distance phone calls (collect, I assume). According to a source, she used one of her allowed calls to phone her publisher pal Mort Zuckerman to complain about a Lloyd Grove column that ran in Zuckerman's New York Daily News, in which Grove reported, correctly, that while Miller is in jail her husband, "famed editor Jason Epstein," is cruising around the Mediterranean aboard the Silver Shadow cruise liner. The Grove column included a delicious riff from Chris Buckley. Miller, apparently, was not amused. Grove's piece also featured a priceless quote from Miller's attorney Bob Bennett who, when asked about Epstein's travels, replied, "We all serve our time in our own way."

Speaking of Bennett, we had a brief but memorable e-exchange with him on Friday, when the HuffPost contacted him to ask about a tip I'd gotten that Miller was in the process of negotiating a book deal about her Plamegate/prison experiences. When asked to confirm the story, Bennett e-mailed back a lawyerly: "Where did you get this info?" Was he expecting me to give him the name, address, and blood type of my source? We replied that I had heard it through "publishing sources" -- to which he emailed back: "No Comment".

Thanks, Bob. Should we take "No Comment" to mean "yes" -- since if you'd meant "no" you surely would have said so? Unsolicited advice to Alice Mayhew, Judy Miller's legendary editor at Simon and Schuster (if she's the one negotiating with Bennett): Hold your horses or, if you can't, keep the advance very low. A reporter going to jail to protect her own ass and not a source smells like remainder to me. But what worries my Times sources the most is that it smells like the straw that could break the Gray Lady's back. A lot hinges on how much of what Judy knows Bill Keller and Arthur Sulzberger also know. Keller has been very cagey on the subject. When asked by George Stephanopoulos on Nightline if he knew who Miller's source was, he refused to say yes or no.

,,,,more

[Pithy Cherub]

1. Judy, Judy, Judy... "The Memoirs of a Jailed 'Journalist'" - 2006

Pre-order now - the advance will cover the remnants of her soul....

[DemInDistress]

2. this whole Plame-Rove-Whitehouse reminds me of a

GIANT ZIT.....................Ready to Explode on the Bush Crime Family...Our Whitehouse is "PUS" filled.The kind of bacteria that's killing our country.With DSM,Plame,Iraq war in shambles,support down dramatically,911 Re-Investigations being sought,I think its time for another attack on America,hey FEMA has 800 prison camps on stand-by,staffed and ready for inmates.U.S.Army has Plans for Civilian Inmate Labor Programs...Is something coming our way??

[Rex]

3. It's a good thing they deliver the NYDN in prison!

I wonder if she gets decorating tips from Martha Stewart? Miller smells MEGAAA MOOONEEY, like all good mediawhores!

[H2O Man]

4. What is wrong

with this picture? She refuses to tell the truth in court, and plans to sell a book? Will it be considered fiction, or what?

[kentuck]

5. Excellent point, H2O Man...!

She's gonna tell the truth once she's outta jail?

[H2O Man]

6. People should not

be allowed to profit from their crimes. This is obscene.

[kentuck]

7. I agree.

And that is exactly what she plans on doing.

[shraby]

8. Keep in mind she may NOT get out of jail...

depends on whether she gets slapped with criminal contempt of court for not testifying. From what I understand there is no term limit on criminal contempt..she could get up to a hundred years for it. Don't we all wish.

[UTUSN]

9. Her Hubby Ain't Worried - He's on a Cruise in the Med n/t