Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. Wilson had just revealed that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account touched off a political fracas over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.
"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.
Sources familiar with the conversations said the leakers were seeking to undercut Wilson's credibility. They alleged that Wilson, who was not a CIA employee, was selected for the Niger mission partly because his wife had recommended him. Wilson said in an interview yesterday that a reporter had told him that the leaker said, "The real issue is Wilson and his wife."
A source said reporters quoted a leaker as describing Wilson's wife as "fair game."
The official would not name the leakers for the record and would not name the journalists. The official said there was no indication that Bush knew about the calls.
One thing lost in all of this is that quite likely the senior administration official, as well as potentially the other "sources familiar with the conversations" have told everything they know to Fitzgerald.
And, the last part, the "not name the leakers for the record" bit, tells us that Mike Allen, who wrote the article, most likely knows the two senior administration officials named, even if he didn't have clearance to print it.
That doesn't mean this original reporting gets the whole story - whoever this official is may not have known or disclosed the whole story - but it's nonetheless worth reminding ourselves of.