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I'm a committed Plamiac. I've been following this story since Novak's 2003 column that started the whole kerfluffle. So Novak's revelation yesterday that he got Plame's name from Wilson's own entry in Who's Who of America, certainly didn't surprise me.

So here is what we know so far: Joe Wilson went to Niger at the behest of his wife, Valerie Plame who worked at the CIA. We don't know if she was covert but can assume she wasn't because no one has been indicted for that crime and at this point, the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald has abandoned that hunt.

Joe Wilson, while working as an adviser to John Kerry in his election bid, published a report that said the President lied about his reasons to go to war, because his reasons conflicted with Wilson's report from Niger. The bi-partisan 911 commission determined that Wilson lied.

In 2003 Novak learned that Wilson was sent to Niger by his wife who worked for the CIA. He wrote as much in this column. (According to Andrea Mitchell, Plame's employment was the worst kept secret in Washington.) He learned this from an unnamed government official (UGO). The vast speculation is that UGO is Richard Armitage who was the under secretary to Colin Powell. We also speculate that Armitage learned that information from Marc Grossman - who worked for Armitage and who was a long standing buddy of Joe Wilson, going back to their college days. (Armitage is also assumed to be Woodward's source.)

After learning this information from UGO, and checking with Who's Who in America, Novak said, in the middle of a conversation with Karl Rove: "I heard that Joe Wilson's wife works at the CIA." Rove replied: "I heard that too".

This was all done in the context of the White House push back against the false Wilson report, in attempt to publish the truth.

The left went nuts, and Chuck Schumer demanded an investigation of whoever leaked Plame's name. My guess is they were surprised when the request was granted.

Within three weeks of his appointment, Patrick Fitzgerald knew all of Novak's sources, including UGO and decided not to prosecute the leaker, either because Plame was not covert (and thus there was no crime) or UGO's revelation was "unintentional" and again there was no crime.

Instead of closing up shop and going home, Fitzgerald began a systematic process of trying to find someone to indict.

On October 28, 2005, Lewis Libby, adviser to the VP was indicted for perjury. He leveled a 5 count indictment. Three of the counts have fallen apart. (They are based on testimony by Matt Cooper, directly contradicted by his own notes) and the two other counts are predicated on the a lapse of memory either by Libby or Tim Russert.

What we don't know is why Fitzgerald is covering for Armitage. There is speculation that Fitzgerald was given his job by Comey at the FBI who specifically wanted to hamstring the administrations position on the war, so he specifically pointed him toward the VP.

This speculation was fueled by the letter sent from Hoekstra to The President in May, and leaked in part by the NY Times this Sunday, wherein Hoekstra stated that the Plame case was a "set up by an anti-Administration clique in the CIA".

The go-to guy on this case is Tom Maguire at Just One minute. And here is his time-line.

Update: Don Surber wonders why Bill Keller and Dean Baquet (editors of the NY Times and LA Times) don't defend Novak.

edited by jane_w on 07/13/2006 at 01:09AM