[Fred Mertz]

If Plame was outed in mid-July then the Agency had time to notify her contacts, since it seemed to be a 'quiet' event at the time of Novak's article.

My question is, why has it taken about ten weeks to have DoJ announce an investigation? I know, public pressure.

[aristeides]

My question is, why has it taken about ten weeks to have DoJ announce an investigation? I know, public pressure.

Things seem to have been moving at a fast clip since the Washington Post revealed over the weekend that the CIA had made the referral to DOJ.

To speculate: maybe the CIA leaked the news about the referral to hasten a reaction from DOJ, possibly because it was becoming impatient about the delay.