Valerie Plame investigation Journalist Bob Woodward of the Washington Post revealed on November 15, 2005 that a "a government official with no ax to grind" leaked him the identity of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame in mid-June 2003. On March 2, 2006, bloggers discovered that "Richard Armitage" fit the spacing on a redacted court document, suggesting he was a source for the Plame leak.[1] Two journalists (Eric Umansky and David Corn) homed in on Richard Armitage as the source of the information; according to an April 2006 Vanity Fair article (published March 14, 2006), former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee said in an interview "That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption," though Bradlee later told the Post that he "[did] not recall making that precise statement" in the interview. Others later suggested that Armitage discouraged Novak from writing about Plame,[2] and has been a cooperative witness in the investigation.[1]
I KNOW I heard or read that in one interview Novak said "not White House but Administration official". I've been googling to find such a quote and cannot. However, google is a left wing site and is overrun with left wing sources. Very few that are not.
I did find many, many quotes in which Novak was careful to say "Senior Administration official", which should be read differently from "White House official".
He also says that it was a conversation about the CONTENT OF WILSON'S "REPORT", which was quite lengthy and this (Wilson's wife sending him to Niger and being CIA) was almost an aside or a throwaway kind of line the person said and that later the source told him the statement was inadvertent...that is, it slipped out but he hadn't even thought or intended to say it when he and Novak sat down to talk.
Novak has stated that the reason this person wasn't indicted is that what he said wasn't a crime, that Fitzgerald knows who the person is and that he, Novak, believes Bush knows who the person is. Said he would be surprised if Bush didn't know. Didn't say why he believes the President knows, that I can find.
I think it could be Tenet simply because it wasn't something the person was intentionally revealing as if for the first time (your point that Tenet was CIA and Plame was already outed) but just blurted out in conversation.
Have you ever said something to someone that might have already been known, but you said it anyway for some reason? As an aside or to make a point or something. I certainly have. Not arguing for Tenet, just saying it COULD have been.
But most fingers are pointing at Armitage from what I can tell.