Two questions arise from Novak’s column, neither explicitly germane
to the underlying issue — was the WH actively outing an undercover CIA
agent — but interesting nonetheless: 1) Exactly what did Novak think his
CIA contact meant with the statement that printing Plame’s position would
cause her “difficulties” traveling abroad? Novak concluded that the contact
didn’t mean Plame or anyone else would be endangered, but that word seems to
be some sort of red flag. 2) Novak suggests that he initiated a call to a
“senior administration official” in which he asked about the whys and
wherefores of Wilson’s being asked to go to Niger to investigate yellowcake.
Yet a Newsday article a week after his original July column reported this:
“Novak, in an interview, said his sources had come to him
with the information. ‘I didn’t dig it out, it was given to me,’ he
said. ‘They thought it was significant, they gave me the name and I used
it.’”
It’s unclear what the “it” is here — Plame’s name? her status? But the
basic question remains: Did Novak call the (White House? administration?) m
asking for information? Or did they call him?