NYT - leaker not Rove or Libby

Douglas Jehl, writing in the New York Times, says the "Case of C.I.A. Officer's Leaked Identity Takes New Turn." Jehl says that Walter Pincus, of The Washington Post, testified before the federal grand jury on Sept. 15, 2004. The Washington Post reported that Mr. Pincus had testified, but only after his confidential source had first "revealed his or her identity" to Mr. Fitzgerald, the special counsel conducting the C.I.A. leak inquiry.

But a review of Mr. Pincus's own accounts and those of other people with detailed knowledge of the case strongly suggest that his source was neither Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, nor I. Lewis Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and was in fact a third administration official whose identity has not yet been publicly disclosed.

Mr. Pincus wrote in the Nieman Reports article that he had agreed to answer questions from Mr. Fitzgerald last fall about his July 12, 2003, conversation only after "it turned out that my source, whom I still cannot identify publicly, had in fact disclosed to the prosecutor that he was my source, and he talked to the prosecutor about our conversation."

Well, if Karl Rove was not the leaker (weep bitterly, lefties), and Lewis Libby was not the leaker, and Rove and Libby turned everyone loose to testify, and the true leaker identified himself to the prosecutor and detailed his conversation to Pincus, then we are back to the as yet unidentified "no partisan gunslinger" informant of Robert Novak. Or perjury by one or more of the parties involved or obstruction of justice by one or more of the parties involved.

Then we've got The New York Times with Judith Miller in jail, The Washington Post with Walter Pincus and Glen Kessler, Time Magazine with Matthew Cooper and NBC with Tim Russert all talking and writing and publishing in the finest CYA tradition.

And we've got Rove who ain't sayin' nuthin', Libby who ain't sayin' nuthin', the president who ain't sayin' nuthin', Novak who ain't sayin' nuthin' and at least two unknown mystery leakers who ain't sayin' nuthin'.

What a circus.

Joining the circus;
Tom Maguire - posted this info 3 weeks ago - or hollered about it
Kevin Drum - with another rumor from Arianna - Kevin says "speculative"
Michael Stickings at The Moderate Voice repeats the mantra from the left

TAGS: Karl Rove, Valerie Plame, leak, CIA, Lewis Libby, Robert Novak, circus