1655 The Name Plame and who's to Blame

Returning from Indianapolis yesterday, we were listening to NPR. OK, OK. I know it’s not the most unbiased source in the world, but my taxes support them too! Anyway, the story was the “Valerie Plame” case and who is the only person interviewed? A Washington Post reporter--missed his name. That’s it. No one else.

Here’s what Robert Novak, whose column started it all, said over two years ago:

“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.”

I still don’t know why he revealed her name in his column when he was asked not to by a CIA official, and I have no idea why Novak didn’t get in trouble, however, he continues (Oct. 1, 2003)

“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.”

So can you leak something that everyone knows? Apparently, in Washington you can. If you’re reporting for NPR, you don’t even have to ask that question.