Posted on 11/16/2005 12:27:27 PM PST by NewMediaFan
Bob Woodward apologized today to The Washington Post's executive editor for failing to tell him for more than two years that a senior Bush administration official had told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame, even as an investigation of those leaks mushroomed into a national scandal.
Woodward, an assistant managing editor and best-selling author, said he told Leonard Downie Jr. that he held back the information because he was worried about being subpoenaed by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel in the case.
"I apologized because I should have told him about this much sooner," Woodward said in an interview. "I explained in detail that I was trying to protect my sources. That's Job No. 1 in a case like this. . . .
"I hunkered down. I'm in the habit of keeping secrets. I didn't want anything out there that was going to get me subpoenaed."
Downie, who was informed by Woodward late last month, said in a separate interview that his most famous employee had "made a mistake." Despite Woodward's concerns about his confidential sources, Downie said, "he still should have come forward, which he now admits. We should have had that conversation . . . I'm concerned that people will get a misimpression about Bob's value to the newspaper and our readers because of this one instance in which he should have told us sooner."...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This unnamed government official was hoping to stay out of the spotlight but his conscience got the best of him after Libby was indicted. My guess is that they now realize it was THEY who first talked to the press about Plame, and they do not want Libby to go to prison for something they did. Also, since it is clear that no crime was committed by talking about Plame, they are not in any legal jeopardy for doing so.
Comments?
Makes sense. And by giving Woodward a release, the unnamed official put Woodward in a position where he had to testify.
Just saw DeGenova on with Brit Hume. DeG demanded that Fitz drop the charges.
That he was obligated by the Justice Department to review his entire case. Since the premise that Libby was the first administration official to lead Plame's identity was WRONG, then the case needs to be reviewed and then dropped.
Russert is the rotten egg in this case.
I was just wondering who benefits from this kind of late disclosure. Thanks much for the info.
AC, see post #78.
I don't know the exact nature of the indictments and have no legal background, so I'd have to defer to lawyers who know a lot more about this than I do.
Thanks. That is new information for me.
I figure we are never told the whole truth about anything. I grew up in a town where the chief of detectives was known for murdering three people and being the bagman for the local mob. The media knew but no one else did, officially.
Indeed and the biggest liar.
Another step or two down this path Woodward, you leftist puke of a pseudo-journalist, and you'll be in league with Nixon and some of his questionable lapses of ethics.
Ironic. Not.
Bob Woodward is a f*cking a--hole.
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