There's a huge missing piece in the Plame Affair and it all goes back to a WaPo article 9/28/03. It intrigued me then and still does.
Washington Post 9/28/03
The officer's name was disclosed on July 14 in a syndicated column by Robert D. Novak, who said his sources were two senior administration officials.
Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. Wilson had just revealed that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account touched off a political fracas over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.
"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.
More after the jump, and it gets better. . .
The official would not name the leakers for the record and would not name the journalists. The official said there was no indication that Bush knew about the calls.
It is rare for one Bush administration official to turn on another. Asked about the motive for describing the leaks, the senior official said the leaks were "wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility."
So, if the Washington Post story is to be believed, there are TWO sets of leaks. The first is the obvious one which everyone has focused on. But, according to this story, there was another leak, and, more importantly, a WHISTLEBLOWER within the White House.
Were Dana Priest and Mike Allen ever called? Could it be a REAL whistleblower that Cooper is protecting? (I think Miller's testimony and information is unrelated, for obvious reasons).
Has the whistleblower testified? Is it perhaps his/her testimony that needs corroboration?
Did someone leave (or die) after this article - cuz you can bet that after that article came uot there was a MASSIVE hunt within the administration to find out who it was.
OR if he/she is still in the administration you can bloody well bet that they DO need protection.
I dunno myself, but it's a piece of the puzzle that has always been forgotten and/or shunted aside and I think it's worth trying to fit it in. Somewhere. Go at it.
eileen from OH (Call me crazy - and you will - but I think it's Matalin. Yeah, she's a rightwing whacko, but she's married to our leftwing "whacko." PLUS, she left Cheney's office shortly thereafter - to spend time with the cough,cough family. PLUS, I think she was mentioned as a witness.)