Washington, D.C.
The Justice Department this week launched a criminal inquiry into whether White House officials leaked the identity of an undercover CIA operative for political gain. In July, syndicated columnist Robert Novak exposed the agent, Valerie Plame, citing two White House officials as his sources. Novak’s column ran a week after Plame’s husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly challenged the administration’s claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium ore from Niger. Wilson said that several journalists had told him that White House officials exposed his wife to discredit him, and that he suspected President Bush’s top political advisor, Karl Rove, “condoned” the leak. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said it was “totally ridiculous” to suggest that Rove was responsible, and said the Justice Department could conduct a fair inquiry. Democrats said that only a special prosecutor could be trusted to trace the leak.
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