Three reporters aberrant continue to travel divergent paths in the federal investigation into the identity leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Bob Novak elected to lay low, Matthew Cooper is going to testify and Judith Miller heads for the hoosegow.
This reporter may not have the best nose for news but I bet Bob Novak will get a book deal out of this. Three or four hundred pages of how he controversially but honorably revealed the concealed identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame even though a CIA agent requested he not do it and how he “didn’t” do it at the behest of two “senior administration officials.” .
Novak told CNN last week a few revealing bits of information. First, he can’t really say anything on the advice of his attorney. Two, no one was going to jail because of him, third, the country needs a shield law, and fourth, he can’t really talk about anything because of his lawyer but he promises to “reveal all” after this mess is over.
Then there’s Mr. Cooper. Cooper held his ground, sort of. He said last week when Time magazine elected to turn over their notes that while he would prefer not to hand over the notes, it was up the magazine’s discretion. Then, he said today his hidden source said he released Cooper from his agreement so Cooper is now testifying. Did I mention that Cooper’s only contribution to this was a brief bit on Time’s website saying “some government officials” had given him information. He never really even had a full story about it.
And that brings us to Judith Miller. She’s being carted off to jail for crimes against the investigation, namely neither she nor her paper, the august New York Times, would spill the beans. Miller’s article on the leak didn’t happen until well after Novak exposed Plame. The federal district court judge ordered her to reveal her information or be held in contempt of court. If she didn’t hold contempt for the court before, she probably does now. The New York Times probably faces fines too
These reporters have taken three very different paths in this investigation but there are certainly other twists to the story. The chief special investigator for the case, Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to investigate the leak and look to see if any law had been broken, which apparently might not have happened to begin with. Fitzgerald built an impressive record as an ardent enemy of organized crime and unless you approach this with a fair amount of cynicism, this doesn’t involve organized crime. He’s gone after this case with equal tenacity. 
The anticipated release date for Miller is in about four months, the time when the grand jury is slated to be over. Oddly enough, this all started when Joseph Wilson IV gave an opinion that the Bush administration’s call on prewar intelligence was wrong. He said the information they said existed didn’t. “Senior administration officials” proceeded to out his wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative and she was forced to discontinue her activities.
What happens now? Wait and see.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
