I’m genuinely pleased the Matt Cooper/Plame Game saga has been resolved, but there’s something strange here that leads me to wonder if there’s more to this story.
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors wanted to ask Cooper some questions about discussions he had last year with Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff. Cooper refused, insisting he, as a professional journalist, could not divulge private conversations with a source. U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan held Cooper in contempt and threatened jail time.
Yesterday, we learned Cooper had changed his mind and spoke with prosecutors on Monday. What prompted the change? Time magazine (Cooper’s employer) said in a statement that Cooper answered questions because Libby had waived a confidentially agreement he had with Cooper.
While this makes sense on the surface, the timing seems off.
Here’s what we learned two months ago:
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.
This means that Cooper was already free to talk to investigators about Libby when he was subpoenaed. But Cooper refused until Monday, allegedly because the two-month-old waiver freed his hand.
Something doesn’t add up. It’s not as if Cooper refused to talk and then Libby gave him the green light. The order happened in reverse.
Is the argument that Cooper (and his lawyer) simply didn’t know that Libby had already waived confidentiality? That hardly seems possible. But assuming Cooper knew about the signed waiver in advance, there had to be something else that prompted his refusal to cooperate. In other words, Libby didn’t suddenly clear Cooper to talk — he had already done so two months ago.
It seems like there’s a part of this story that isn’t being told. At least not yet.