He is not trying to puff himself up, or puff up his own importance. He’s very reticent at times, not wanting to give up names he considers innocent and not wanting to dive into a juicy spectacular. He also is being protective of some conversations so as not to allow a counter attack (like Dowd’s shot today on behalf of the Clintons).
He opened by saying his motive in participating and cooperating with NE was to protect his confidential sources. He addressed Dowd's calim by explaining that NE has exclusive FULL access at Roger's wedding.
He says he hopes the attention on the salcious, the politics of personal desctruction, stops. He is not trying to damage any candidate (he claims), he thinks the voters should focus on issues.
I get the feeling that in the circles of people he knows about, "clean living" just doesn;t exist, and it is a necessity to keep big secrets.