On September 30, 2003, just days before Richard Armitage decided to reveal to the authorities that he had leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, the Washington Post published a front-page story, “Bush Vows Action if Aides Had Role in Leak.” It began:

President Bush’s chief spokesman said yesterday that the allegation that administration officials leaked the name of a CIA operative is “a very serious matter” and vowed that Bush would fire anybody responsible for such actions.

Later in the story:

A senior official quoted Bush as saying, “I want to get to the bottom of this,” during a daily meeting yesterday morning with a few top aides, including [Karl] Rove. Senior intelligence officials said yesterday that the CIA filed what they termed a “crime report” with the Justice Department in late July, shortly after syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak, citing two unnamed administration sources, identified Wilson’s wife by name. The CIA report pointed to a “possible violation of federal criminal law involving the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.”

Now we know that within days, the Justice Department knew that Armitage was the original leaker. Within a few more weeks, the Department knew who all of Novak’s sources were. Yet the investigation ramped up and went on for nearly three years, and still continues today. And the president, who, it seems reasonble to conclude, was not told the details of an investigation touching on the White House, continued to speak as if no one knew what had really happened.