On July 12, 2003, an administration official, who was talking to me confidentially about a matter involving alleged Iraqi nuclear activities, veered off the precise matter we were discussing and told me that the White House had not paid attention to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s CIA-sponsored February 2002 trip to Niger because it was set up as a boondoggle by his wife, an analyst with the agency working on weapons of mass destruction.
I didn’t write about that information at that time because I did not believe it true that she had arranged his Niger trip. But I did disclose it in an October 12, 2003 story in The Washington Post. By that time there was a Justice Department criminal investigation into a leak to columnist Robert Novak who published it on July 14, 2003 and identified Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative. Under certain circumstances a government official’s disclosure of her name could be a violation of federal law. The call with me had taken place two days before Novak’s column appeared.
I wrote my October story because I did not think the person who spoke to me was committing a criminal act, but only practicing damage control by trying to get me to stop writing about Wilson.
So, isn't Pincus another reporter to whom Libby disclosed that Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA on WMD's before Novak's article was printed? Pincus says the official told him about Plame on July 12, 2003. That's just two days after Libby claims he heard it from Russert and thought it was new information and the same day as the flight to Norfolk and Libby's call to Matt Cooper. Libby told the grand jury he learned it from Cheney around June 12 but forgot it, even though he apparently told Judith Miller two weeks later.
According to the grand jury transcripts played for the jury today,
Fitzgerald, who questioned Libby in a non-confrontational, sometimes even casual manner, also asked whether Cheney expected Libby to share that with reporters, specifically Walter Pincus of The Washington Post
Fitzgerald asked four times and in four different ways whether Libby could be absolutely sure he did not disclose the information to Pincus. Pincus never revealed Plame's identity.
"The vice president obviously thought it was important enough to share with you or interesting enough to color the background, correct?" Fitzgerald said. "Yes," Libby replied.
So Libby denies telling Pincus about Plame while Pincus says Libby an Administration official told him. At least that's the way I'm reading it. [Added: Unless Pincus was referring to Armitage and not Libby]
Larry Johnson at TPM Cafe also discusses revelations about Pincus today and said some revisions to the timeline are necessary. He also makes the intriguing point that it would appear it was Pincus's inquiries and not Kristof's May 6, 2003 article or Joseph Wilson's op-ed that got the OVP riled:
It was Walter Pincus, not Nicholas Kristof, who got under the skin of the Vice President and his staff. And it was his questions that started Cheney's office on its mission to discredit Joe Wilson. As Karl Rove later told Chris Matthews, Joe Wilson's wife was fair game. June 2003 marked the start of the intense effort to out Valerie Plame, which culminated in the leaks in July 2003 to Robert Novak, Matt Cooper, and others.
Update: From the comments, it appears that Libby did not tell Pincus about Plame on June 12, just provided information about the trip, and someone else was the source of Pincus' July 12 column, so I guess there's no reason for Fitz to call Pincus. But I'm still a little confused over the whole Pincus thing.
