Hisssss

According to Howard Kurtz who cites Michael Isikoff's report that Karl Rove told Time's reporter Matt Cooper that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent. Money quote:

"Rove told Cooper that Wilson's trip had not been authorized by 'DCIA' -- CIA Director George Tenet -- or Vice President Dick Cheney. Rather, 'it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip.'

Where does that get us? Anybody not intent on savaging Rove will say, "What was Plame doing authorizing a CIA junket for her husband?" Presumably, she knew how Wilson would do his job, and that it wouldn't redound to the President's benefit.

I suppose Rove didn't know how this would all fall out, or he would have announced the story himself. But maybe he just figured it was a good way to let the press go chase its tail for a few months or years. This doesn't say whether Rove also revealed this factoid to Bob Novak, who is now being painted as a co-conspirator. It will be interesting to find out what really happened but that's about all, unless you're wondering whether Wilson conspired with the media to build up his report into the "Bush lied" theme, which has never made any sense.

I find it kind of bizarre at this point, now that it appears that the leak wasn't illegal in the first place, that the White House press corps is nevertheless trying to use it to demand Rove's firing by invoking a promise that the leaker would be fired. Of course, the understanding at the time that the leak was illegal might render that promise null and void, since it hasn't turned out that way, but don't expect the press to be fair minded about it.