Obvious Question in Plame Case Had Early Answer.

Tom Hamburger & Richard T. Cooper, Los Angeles Times:

Almost three years ago, as Patrick J. Fitzgerald settled in as the newly appointed special counsel in charge of the Valerie Plame leak investigation, he learned a startling secret.

Washington was ablaze with speculation about who had revealed Plame's identity as a covert CIA officer to syndicated columnist Robert Novak; senior White House officials were considered the likely culprits. But Fitzgerald, reading FBI reports just after taking charge, learned that federal investigators already knew Novak's primary source — a gossipy State Department official who seemed to have strained relations with the White House.

So if the mystery was already solved, why did Fitzgerald's investigation continue for almost 36 more months? Why does I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, still face criminal charges in connection with the Plame leak? And why were other senior officials left twisting in the wind, facing possible indictment?

Such questions are at the heart of a furor that erupted late last month after the revelation that several months after Novak's column naming Plame appeared in July 2003, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage had informed his superiors — and then the Justice Department, which was investigating the leak — that he had been Novak's primary source. Armitage's reasons for talking to Novak remain unclear. He was known for his skepticism on some aspects of President Bush's Iraq war strategy, but also for his penchant to gossip.

Did the special counsel, operating behind the veil of secrecy of all such inquiries, abuse his authority in a witch hunt?

The discovery of Armitage's role — and the fact that it had been known to investigators so early — is stirring administration defenders to fury.

Yet the information on Armitage — first revealed in a new book — along with court filings and interviews with former White House staffers and others familiar with the inquiry, suggest Fitzgerald pressed ahead because he learned quickly that Armitage was not alone in discussing Plame with reporters. Top White House officials had talked about her as well.

Early on, the prosecutor learned that Rove may have been a corroborating source for the information Armitage provided to Novak. That fact alone would have compelled the special counsel to push on with the investigation, in the view of some experts.