Exploring the Plame Investigation

Recent reports in the Valerie Plame case have revolved around informed speculation that the investigation has expanded from the original leaker to a probe of the larger administration effort to disseminate the information -- specifically, that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is pursuing perjury and/or obstruction charges against administration officials who lied about their roles in the affair. Thus, Fitzgerald needs the testimony of Cooper and Miller not as direct evidence against the leaker himself, but as the final link in proof of a larger coverup of the crime. (For recent overviews see here and here.)

A number of journalists at this point have testified as to the administration officials that spread the Plame leak to them, including the Washington Post's Walter Pincus. But at this point, the number of administration officials involved in the case would appear to extend far beyond that of the original Novak leaker or leakers. (In addition, Novak himself has changed his story multiple times -- first citing a CIA source in his conversation with Wilson, then citing two "senior administration officials" in his subsequent column -- as well as changing his story as to how and why he was given the information by those officials. In short, Novak has probably given testimony to Fitzgerald, but that testimony is probably deeply suspect.) If the testimony of other interviewed reporters and administration officials conflicts, there would certainly be a solid basis for a more encompassing obstruction investigation -- and that appears to be what is taking place.

One of the most credible working theories is that a midlevel administration official involved with the Niger uranium claims was the one who "broke" Plame's undercover status, after a retaliatory investigation of her husband. That official then shopped the leak widely inside the White House as personal retaliation against Wilson, distributing the information to more senior individuals that may or may not have had clearance for such highly classified information, but who in any event would have had little credible "need to know" justification. Those multiple figures, including apparently senior administration officials, then moved the information to reporters via the usual press contacts -- perhaps knowing the leak itself was a crime, or (dubiously) not. Certainly, reporting indicates, Fitzgerald has been able to confirm the involvement of multiple White House personnel in a coordinated effort to push the story to reporters -- and yet, incredulously, none of these administration officials have been able to tell Fitzgerald where they themselves obtained this classified information -- or, if they have, Fitzgerald has obtained significant evidence suggesting investigators should not believe them.

If this is indeed the case, and as commonly reported the Special Counsel has moved from the original crime into a investigation of a wider after-the-fact administration coverup, Fitzgerald likely needs Cooper and Miller to narrowly testify towards establishing that the particular administration officials they spoke too did indeed speak to Plame's covert status before it was widely known -- classified information relegated to a narrow set of people, and presumably not something they would ordinarily have clearance towards, and presumably something they only could have received from someone with access to that information. Presuming Fitzgerald indeed has contradictory testimony from the players in question, which is a very safe bet, this in turn would fundamentally prove that these officials had lied to investigators about where they obtained the information from, in an effort to protect the original (criminal) leaker. And that coverup would be an indictable offense.

It would be an offense remarkably similar to the original Watergate coverup, in fact. And, intriguingly, may involve some of the same players.