Jonah: Anything is possible, but the Wilson thing seems far-fetched. Months ago, Wilson’s lawyer told me that Wilson had been interviewed by prosecutors, but I am not aware of his going before the grand jury. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but I don’t know about it.

The main accusation against Wilson is that if Rove, Libby or others were to be indicted for revealing classified to those not authorized to receive it, didn’t Wilson do the same thing? After all, wasn’t his trip to Niger classified? Certainly, the CIA has never released the report written from the oral presentation Wilson gave when he returned from the trip. The document was not released, apparently, because it was classified.

So wasn’t it still classified when Wilson wrote about it in the New York Times on July 6, 2003 — and when he spoke about it anonymously to the Times and the Washington Post before that? It might appear so, but sources have told me that it might be that just some parts of the report — for example, the names of some sources Wilson contacted in Niger — might be classified, so revealing the basic facts about the trip would not constitute a release of classified information. If that is the case, it would seem to indicate that the report could be made public in redacted form — it would certainly be interesting to see — but so far the CIA has chosen not to do so.

Another bit information in Wilson’s favor is that members of the Senate Intelligence Committee were given the CIA’s written report on Wilson’s trip, and, at least as far as is publicly known, they did not recommend that he be investigated for revealing classified information.