I think the Washington Post buried its lede this morning in its story about the Plame Game.
The Post noted that Glenn Kessler, the paper’s State Department reporter, offered tape-recorded testimony to the grand jury yesterday. That, in and of itself, is pretty interesting, because other journalists who’ve been called upon have resisted cooperating for fear of alienating sources.
But that’s why the third paragraph was so important:
Kessler said he agreed to be interviewed about two phone conversations he had with I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, at Libby’s urging. At the prosecutor’s request, Libby and other White House aides have signed waivers saying they agree to release reporters they have talked to from keeping confidential any disclosures about Plame.
As far as I know, and I’ve been following the Plame Game pretty closely, this is the first such report. It not only points to Libby as a primary suspect, as has long been believed, but also notes that prosecutors have convinced Libby and “other White House aides” to free reporters of pre-arranged confidentiality agreements.
That said, Kessler didn’t say anything to suggest Libby leaked Plame’s identity to him.
Kessler said he told prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald that, during conversations last July 12 and July 18, Libby did not mention Plame or her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, or Wilson’s CIA-sponsored trip to Niger to investigate whether Iraq tried to buy uranium there.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Libby isn’t the leaker; it means Libby didn’t leak the information to Kessler.
If, however, all the relevant players are signing waivers, one of the several reporters who was offered the leak may eventually be able to identify the culprit. Stay tuned.
Oh, and before I forget, the Post ran this story on page A22, proving once again that the media is largely ignoring the fact that the White House is under a criminal investigation.