I think you're on to something there.
I looked at the original article, it began with this paragraph:
The CIA's decision to send retired diplomat Joseph C. Wilson to Africa in February 2002 to investigate possible Iraqi purchases of uranium was made routinely at a low level without Director George Tenet's knowledge. Remarkably, this produced a political firestorm that has not yet subsided.
How did Novak know this? Maybe he during a long conversation with Tenet he asked "Didn't you know about this" Tenet said "no, routine procedure."
Tenet is a big shot, but so is Novak so they could have met.