As Byron York mentions in his piece today, Slate’s John Dickerson denies that former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer ever told him about Joe Wilson’s wife. But Tom Maguire asks a good question: What about David Gregory? In Fleischer’s version, he also told Gregory about Wilson’s wife:
And might Gregory have a different tale from Dickerson? Well, per this Dickerson account, there was a lot of coming and going by the reporters and government officials; we are not talking about the President’s trip to Africa, not a formal press conference.
And, as noted earlier, Libby himself apparently over-confessed, telling Fitzgerald that he had leaked about Plame to Glenn Kessler of the WaPo (Kessler denied it, and Fitzgerald believed him.)
I think the public would love to hear from David Gregory. Tamara Lipper, too, and as a press spokesperson she ought to be reachable. Well, maybe.
Does Gregory’s account match or contradict Fleischer’s? Up to this point, he hasn’t said a word. If Gregory learned from Fleischer about Valerie Plame’s role in sending Wilson to Niger, then he knew a lot more than he let on during all those months he was grilling Scott McClellan about White House officials’ involvement in the leak. And if he didn’t, then that makes two reporters whose recollections differ from Fleischer’s. It’s easy to see why Gregory isn’t talking; neither option puts him in a great light.