Novak's Limited Plame-gate Hang-Out

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/070907.html

Right-wing columnist Robert Novak has played a complex game in advancing the Bush administration’s “Plame-gate” cover-up. Novak was the one who first published the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame; he then answered a few questions before going silent; now, he is making a series of misleading arguments via his columns.


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Armitage-Rove Connection

A well-placed conservative source, who worked directly with both Armitage and Rove, told me that the two men had become close allies within the Bush administration, having developed a relationship when Rove was coordinating with Armitage to recruit Colin Powell to support Texas Gov. George W. Bush and then serve as Secretary of State.

The source said Rove and Armitage created a confidential back channel between the White House and the State Department for sensitive information.

Further buttressing the idea that Armitage was part of the Plame leak operation – not just some loose-lipped gossip – is the fact that Novak knew to call Rove when seeking a second source. If Novak really wanted to tell the full story now, he would explain why he thought a White House political adviser would know such a sensitive secret.

The way this works in the real world of journalism is that Novak would have asked Armitage who else might know about Plame’s identity and Armitage would have pointed Novak to Rove. Otherwise, Novak likely would have sought a second source elsewhere – at the CIA, the State Department or possibly the National Security Council staff.