Projo Subterranean Homepage News

10:22 a.m. Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr.is in a chat right now discussing Woodward. Nothing new so far.

11:13: It's over now, but you can read the transcript at the link. When does Woodward himself chat?

8:27 a.m.
Not me: In search of Bob Woodward's source -- a government official who came forward to prosecutor Fitzgerald and gave Bob Woodward a waiver to testify but not to be named -- The Wall Street Journal continues the process of elimination begun yesterday by WaPo's Todd Purdum:

...Vice President Dick Cheney isn't believed to have talked to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald since last year, nor has he given a waiver to Mr. Woodward. That removes him as Mr. Woodward's source. Also ruled out are President Bush, who was interviewed by Mr. Woodward for his book, and Dan Bartlett, a senior adviser.

Others suspected of being sources for Mr. Woodward yesterday denied their involvement. Douglas Feith, former undersecretary of defense for policy, said he didn't talk to Mr. Woodward about Mr. Wilson and his wife, as did Carl Ford Jr., former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. A spokesman for former CIA Director George Tenet and his former deputy, John McLaughlin, said neither provided that information to Mr. Woodward.

A person speaking on behalf of former Secretary of State Colin Powell said he didn't share that information with the reporter, and a National Security Council official eliminated Stephen Hadley, the head of the NSC, as a possibility. Spokesmen for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was National Security Adviser at the time, and John Bolton, a former top State Department official and now U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said neither was Mr. Woodward's source...

...The other two sources Mr. Fitzgerald asked Mr. Woodward about were Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff, and Mr. Libby. Mr. Woodward told Mr. Fitzgerald that he has no recollection that either man discussed Ms. Plame with him.

And it's not Rove, either.

The Times adds to the "not-me" list:

...Marc Grossman, the former undersecretary of state; Douglas Feith, the former undersecretary of defense for policy; and Eric Edelman, the former deputy national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, who has succeeded Mr. Feith at the Pentagon.

Wednesday's no-sayers:

Mr. Bush, Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff; Karl Rove, the deputy chief of staff; Dan Bartlett, the counselor; Karen P. Hughes, former counselor and now under secretary of state for public diplomacy; Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary; Mr. Powell; Mr. Tenet; and John E. McLaughlin, Mr. Tenet's former deputy.

Carl P. Ford, the former head of the State Department's intelligence bureau; Alan Foley, the former head of the C.I.A.'s weapons and arms control center; and David R. Shedd, chief of staff and associate director of national intelligence who is the former senior director for national security matters on the staff of the National Security Council.

A clue: "Leonard Downie, executive editor of The Post, ... has said in interviews that the source was 'a very important source for his book and the paper" and was someone with whom Mr. Woodward met regularly.' "

This leads to,"Among those Mr. Woodward did acknowledge interviewing ... Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld."

Still on the table:

Those who have declined to comment include Robert Joseph, the undersecretary of state for arms control, who was previously a senior director on the N.S.C. staff. Aides to Mr. Rumsfeld; Mr. Armitage; and Paul D. Wolfowitz, former deputy secretary of defense, now head of the World Bank, have not replied to requests to comment.

Guess the Government Official Who Won't Speak Up seems a very odd game.

And it is a game. In another Times story today:

The executive editor of The Washington Post said on Thursday that if other reporters at the newspaper independently discovered the identity of Bob Woodward's confidential source in the C.I.A. leak case, the newspaper might decide to publish the source's name.

Any resemblance to Deep Throat is just history having fun with us.

---

1 Comments

anonymouspost said:

Posted refusd to comment and so did Sarah Shayes(or Chayes) because she got all that money from A.I.D. or was that CIA........

Yes, Woodward is looking for sources for a book, but they're all CIA employess.

Link | November 18, 2005 10:10 AM
Report Abuse

---

Leave a comment

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.