Look it up yourself, it’s not my problem that you don’t read.
The original July column and the one he wrote a few months later in 2003. “Not a partisan gunslinger” was the formulation in the first one. The clear implication is that the source was not Rove or anyone ideologically or politically involved. I assumed at the time that it was Colin Powell.
Novak's was an incredibly weak assertion, and certainly not something anyone would take as the final word on the situation. At the time, most people assumed he was trying to divert attention--the response was not 'Ah, so that's it.'
His weakness in this line you quote doesn't support the assertion that Novak did all he could to stop this outrageous prosecution. In fact it was to Novak's advantage that the identity continue to be obfuscated...as we see by the book he's got coming out.