September 30, 2003

Luskin on Plame/Wilson

Donald Luskin writes,

Think about the sequence of events. Novak talks to administration officials who tell him about Plame. He has the integrity to call someone at CIA to confirm his risky story before he runs with it -- and they confirmed it! Instead of saying "Valerie who? We've never heard of anyone named Valerie" or simply that "We don't answer media inquiries about CIA personnel" -- the CIA itself confirmed it, and in so doing the CIA itself leaked it.

Now why would they do that? Well, maybe she wasn't really a covert operative, the revelation of whose name would create any particular danger for her (in which case the administration's leaks wouldn't be so scandalous). Or maybe she was covert, and the CIA was as pissed off at Wilson as the Bush administration, but for their own special reason: because Wilson had gone public with the findings of a CIA-sponsored study, thus effectively leaking himself. And who recommended him for the job? The little woman... Valerie Plame. So it looks like George Tenet ought to be asking for two investigations here.

[via JustOneMinute]