" but to be honest I cannot figure out what the writer of this article is saying."
LOL!!! I feel the same way. Since the article is from E&P, you'd think they were referring to the NYT...however, I believe they were, as Freud would say, "projecting".
Here's a better link straight from NYT
http://nytimes.com/2005/10/16/national/16leak.html?ei=5094&en=ae9961705f60a5d9&hp=&ex=1129435200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print