Report: Plame was outed by State official

Report: Plame was outed by State official
By Tom Brune
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 29, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage confessed to the FBI three years ago that he was the government official who first tipped columnist Robert Novak about covert CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband's CIA mission, according to an article in this week's Newsweek.

But Armitage was engaging in "chitchat" when he talked to Novak, not trying to undercut Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, for criticizing the White House rationale for invading Iraq, the article said.

The tip led Novak to write a July 14, 2003, column that outed Plame's undercover status, resulting in a still-active federal leak probe and a perjury indictment of former top vice presidential aide Lewis Libby.

"I'm afraid I may be the guy that caused this whole thing," Armitage told Carl Ford, then State Department intelligence chief, saying he "slipped up" and told Novak more than he should have in a July 8, 2003, meeting, the article said.

Armitage wasn't charged because he didn't know Plame was covert, it said. Armitage learned about Plame from a classified memo that did not mention that she was undercover.

Armitage also discussed Plame with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in June 2003, the article said. Yet though Armitage told the FBI about Novak on Oct. 1, 2003, five days into its investigation, he waited until last year to mention Woodward.

While Armitage may have been gossiping, the article said, other White House officials tried to discredit Wilson.

Armitage's role in the Plame case, the subject of speculation in Washington, stands out because it has been a secret for so long in a town where secrets are regularly spilled.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Novak would not identify his sources but said, "I believe the time is way past for my source to identify himself."

The article is based on a new book, "Hubris," by Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff and Nation magazine Washington editor David Corn.