[AmishDude]

On July 14, Robert Novak wrote a column in the Post and other newspapers naming Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative. That wasn't news to me. I had been told that — but not by anyone working in the White House. Rather, I learned it from someone who formerly worked in the government and he mentioned it in an offhand manner, leading me to infer it was something that insiders were well aware of. -- Clifford May, writing in National Review Online

Also, Novak admitted that he contacted the CIA and they did not give him sufficient (by Novak's standards) reason not to reveal Plame's name or occupation.

Look, if you're going to be a contrarion, at least do a minimal amount of research.

[petitfour]

I wonder who that former government official was. And why on earth would a reporter conclude that something was common knowledge because one former government official said something? In what branch of government and in what admin did the former government official work? Novak claims he did not know the woman was an operative. May claims that another person told him she was an operative. Was she an operative? Was May's source revealing classified information and playing it off like it was common knowledge? What are "insiders?"

I've read most of the stories on this subject. And I watched the President speak on the subject. I think they'll work to get to the bottom of this. And if Valerie Plame or someone else had loose lips, revealing Ms. Plame's occupation unnecessarily and illegally, then we'll see a prosecution.

Novak is a reporter, and he asked Plame's boss about her position, and the boss didn't say anything except don't write about it. Novak should have done what the guy said. The boss could not confirm what Novak had heard.