Bob Novak, the Gold Standard Jude Wanniski October 1, 2003

Memo To: Howard Kurtz, Washington Post
From: Jude Wanniski
Re: The CIA 'Leak'

I'm amazed that I'm now writing about Bob Novak and the CIA "leak," but as it has now sapped practically all of the energies of the Washington press corps I find I have to put in my two cents. The reason I direct this note to you, Howard, is that you have become the primary "minder" of the press corps, by virtue of your superb CNN weekend show, "Reliable Sources." When I saw you on another CNN news show yesterday taking a bite out of Novak -- saying it was improper for him to print the name of the CIA lady who was the object of the leak -- I decided I had to take issue with you. I'm not going to say it was "improper" for you to say it was "improper" for Novak to write what he wrote, because your opinion was not unreasonable as a "minder" of journalistic standards. I just think Novak has been the gold standard of journalistic standards in the 40+ years I have known him, and that anyone who would accuse him of journalistic improprieties better do so with hat in hand.

Your opinion was based on an assertion that giving the lady's name added nothing to the story, so Novak should not have put her at risk in any way by the gratuitous inclusion. Now I've not exchanged one word with Novak on this topic since he wrote the column July 14, although we have spoken several times on matters relating to the war in Iraq. But I do know Bob never digs into a story unless he has a reason. The fact is, the Niger "yellowcake" story was BIG news when it was learned the President had it in his State of the Union speech as a rationale for war with Iraq when it had already been debunked. No other reporter wondered how Ambassador Wilson, a Clinton Democrat and opponent of the war, had gotten the CIA assignment. Because Wilson knew Niger as a result of his posting there seemed good enough for everyone else, but not for Novak, and what he did find was a key part of the story. We are even now learning more and more about this aspect of the administration's march to war because of Bob's reporting. As for Mr. Wilson's wife, it was clear from the very first she was a Langley desk jockey, an analyst, not a cloak-and-dagger covert spook.

Anyway, Howard, I think you should reconsider, now that we have more of the facts on which to base a judgment of Bob Novak's judgment. Here is his column today, which should be the last word. It is a dead horse if I ever saw one, but knowing the politics of Washington as I do, I expect to see it beaten upon for another few news cycles. Not by you, I hope.

* * * * *

The CIA leak
Robert Novak

WASHINGTON -- I had thought I never again would write about retired diplomat Joseph Wilson's CIA-employee wife, but feel constrained to do so now that repercussions of my July 14 column have reached the front pages of major newspapers and led off network news broadcasts. My role and the role of the Bush White House have been distorted and need explanation.

The leak now under Justice Department investigation is described by former Ambassador Wilson and critics of President Bush's Iraq policy as a reprehensible effort to silence them. To protect my own integrity and credibility, I would like to stress three points. First, I did not receive a planned leak. Second, the CIA never warned me that the disclosure of Wilson's wife working at the agency would endanger her or anybody else. Third, it was not much of a secret.

The current Justice investigation stems from a routine, mandated probe of all CIA leaks, but follows weeks of agitation. Wilson, after telling me in July that he would say nothing about his wife, has made investigation of the leak his life's work -- aided by the relentless Sen. Charles Schumer of New York. These efforts cannot be separated from the massive political assault on President Bush.

This story began July 6 when Wilson went public and identified himself as the retired diplomat who had reported negatively to the CIA in 2002 on alleged Iraq efforts to buy uranium yellowcake from Niger. I was curious why a high-ranking official in President Bill Clinton's National Security Council (NSC) was given this assignment. Wilson had become a vocal opponent of President Bush's policies in Iraq after contributing to Al Gore in the last election cycle and John Kerry in this one.

During a long conversation with a senior administration official, I asked why Wilson was assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been sent by the CIA's counterproliferation section at the suggestion of one of its employees, his wife. It was an offhand revelation from this official, who is no partisan gunslinger. When I called another official for confirmation, he said: "Oh, you know about it." The published report that somebody in the White House failed to plant this story with six reporters and finally found me as a willing pawn is simply untrue.

At the CIA, the official designated to talk to me denied that Wilson's wife had inspired his selection but said she was delegated to request his help. He asked me not to use her name, saying she probably never again will be given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name might cause "difficulties" if she travels abroad. He never suggested to me that Wilson's wife or anybody else would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her name. I used it in the sixth paragraph of my column because it looked like the missing explanation of an otherwise incredible choice by the CIA for its mission.

How big a secret was it? It was well known around Washington that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. Republican activist Clifford May wrote Monday, in National Review Online, that he had been told of her identity by a non-government source before my column appeared and that it was common knowledge. Her name, Valerie Plame, was no secret either, appearing in Wilson's "Who's Who in America" entry.

A big question is her duties at Langley. I regret that I referred to her in my column as an "operative," a word I have lavished on hack politicians for more than 40 years. While the CIA refuses to publicly define her status, the official contact says she is "covered" -- working under the guise of another agency. However, an unofficial source at the Agency says she has been an analyst, not in covert operations.

The Justice Department investigation was not requested by CIA Director George Tenet. Any leak of classified information is routinely passed by the Agency to Justice, averaging one a week. This investigative request was made in July shortly after the column was published. Reported only last weekend, the request ignited anti-Bush furor.

©2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc.