Cliff May has claimed ever since 2003 that Plame’s identity was an open secret. He has said in print and on TV that he knew about Plame prior to the publication of Novak’s column. According Fitzgerald, though, it appears that May’s repeated claims are not true.
Cliff May has previously written that Novak's July 14, 2003 column about Plame "wasn't news to me. I had been told that." Cliff May claimed he knew about Wilson’s wife when he wrote an anti-Wilson screed on July 11, 2003, but purposely didn't include it "because it didn't seem particularly relevant." (This Cliff May article has relevant links to the above quoted words.)
In the recent Fitz letter to Libby’s defense team, Fitz lists all the known reporters (Pincus, Miller, Cooper, Woodward, and Novak) who knew of Plame/Wilson’s wife prior to July 14. Yet Fitz’s list doesn’t include May. (See pg. 4 of Jan.23, 2006 letter.) Cliff May previously told David Corn that he (May) had been interviewed by the FBI during their investigation of the Plame matter.
Therefore, one can conclude that Cliff May misrepresented his own knowledge about Valerie Plame. He apparently didn’t have much to tell the investigators regarding his own knowledge of the case otherwise he should have been listed in Fitz’s letter. That he wasn’t listed suggests that he *didn’t* know Plame’s identity until Novak published it. Maybe Cliff May has an explanation for this (I can’t wait to read it), but so far he’s been silent at The Corner.
Anyways, I thought this tid-bit was interesting and wanted to pass it along.
Interesting. This is the Cliff May about whom Wolf Blitzer said:
BLITZER: Well, why would Clifford May say that he knew about it?
JOHNSON: Clifford May has been wrong on a whole variety of things.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But he's a respected guy, Clifford May.
JOHNSON: Well, he's respected by some people. I don't respect him, because I...
BLITZER: I have known him for many years...
JOHNSON: I...
BLITZER: ... going back to when he was a reporter for the "New York Times."