Judith Miller to Return to Grand Jury Today & James Dobson Dares U.S. Senate to Call Him Before Judiciary Committee in Today's Details 10/12/05

- The New York Times reporter who went to jail to avoid testifying in the CIA leak case was quizzed by the special prosecutor again yesterday and has agreed to return to the grand jury today. Judith Miller's additional testimony comes as the endgame is intensifying in the legal chess match that threatens to damage the Bush administration. There are signs that prosecutors now are looking into contacts between administration officials and journalists that took place much earlier than previously thought. Earlier conversations are potentially significant, because that suggests the special prosecutor leading the investigation is exploring whether there was an effort within the administration at an early stage to develop and disseminate confidential information to the press that could undercut former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, Central Intelligence Agency official Valerie Plame.

- A newly released report published by the CIA rebukes the Bush administration for not paying enough attention to prewar intelligence that predicted the factional rivalries now threatening to split Iraq. Policymakers worried more about making the case for the war, particularly the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, than planning for the aftermath, the report says. The report was written by a team of four former CIA analysts led by former deputy CIA director Richard Kerr.

- A congressional report concludes that, under federal ethics standards, Vice President Dick Cheney still has a financial interest in Halliburton, the energy services company he used to run. The report, by the Congressional Research Service, came at the request of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and former player in the corporate world who has pushed Cheney on the issue.

- Millions of people remain homeless in the Himalayan regions of northern Pakistan and India following last weekend's earthquake that has claimed more than 41,000 lives As Wednesday morning approached, new threats loomed for the people left without shelter following the quake; international health experts warned of potential disease threats from the devastated public sanitation systems.

- A tough-talking James Dobson, answering calls that he break his silence about a private conversation with White House political strategist Karl Rove, said in a radio broadcast airing today that he received no assurances on how Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers would rule on abortion rights. The influential founder of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family also dared U.S. senators who have threatened to call him before the Judiciary Committee to "just go do it. ... I have nothing to hide."

- Even among the strongest advocates in Washington of the war in Iraq there is a sense of alarm these days, with harsh criticism directed particularly at the draft constitution, which they see as a betrayal of principles and a recipe for disintegration of the Iraqi state. Expressions of concern among conservatives and former Iraqi exiles, seen also in the rising disillusionment of the American public, reflect a widening gap with the Bush administration and its claims of “incredible political progress” in Iraq. Over the past week, two of Washington's most influential conservative think-tanks, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Heritage Foundation, held conferences on Iraq where the mood among speakers, including Iraqi officials, was decidedly sombre.

- When the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee needed guidance on how to prepare for a series of tough spending and budget issues, he sat down with Tom DeLay Mr. DeLay was also on hand as the Budget Committee chairman held a private session on the drive for new spending cuts. And when the Republican leadership was caught short of votes for a contentious energy bill, Mr. DeLay scoured the House floor to help deliver a narrow victory.