The Plame Leak Investigation

Names listed alphabetically

The Legal Side

Floyd Abrams--First Amendment lawyer who famously argued the Pentagon Papers before the Supreme Court in the early 1970s. Abrams defended Judy Miller in the CIA leak inquiry.

Robert S. Bennett--Attorney for New York Times reporter, Judy Miller.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald--The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Fitzgerald was appointed special prosecutor of the Plame CIA leak inquiry. Fitzgerald is expected to conclude his investigation October 28, 2005.

In a separate case, Fitzgerald's office has indicted several aides to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

James Hamilton--Attorney for newspaper columnist, Robert D. Novak.

Joseph A. Tate--Attorney for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

At The New York Times

Jayson Blair--Former reporter for The New York Times who was fired for in 2003 for faking quotes and interviews, plagiarizing other newspapers, and submitting false expense accounts to his editors.

Bill Keller--Executive Editor of The New York Times.

Judith Miller--A reporter for The New York Times, Miller was jailed in July for 85 for contempt of court for refusing to testify before the grand jury investigating the Plame CIA leak inquiry. On September 29, 2005, Miller was released from jail after her source confirmed she could discuss their conversations before a grand jury.

Arthur O Sulzberger, Jr.--Chairman of The New York Times Company and Publisher of The New York Times newspaper.

Other Reporters Involved

Matt Cooper--Journalist for TIME magazine who was held in contempt for refusing to disclose their sources in the Valerie Plame grand jury inquiry. On July 6, 2005, Cooper agreed to cooperate with the inquiry after receiving permission from his confidential source that freed him from his agreement of confidentiality. According to Newsweek, that confidential source was Karl Rove.

Robert D. Novak--A reporter who disclosed the identify of CIA agent Valerie Plame in a newspaper column on July 14, 2003.

According to The Washington Post, lawyers have "confirmed that Novak discussed Plame with White House senior adviser Karl Rove four or more days before the column identifying her ran. But the identity of another "administration" source cited in the column is still unknown. Rove's attorney has said Rove did not identify Plame to Novak." (The Washington Post, July 27, 2005)

Viveca Novak--Novak is the Washington correspondent for Time magazine and covers legal affairs, terrorism and civil liberties. In late November, Novak agreed to testify in the CIA leak case, having "been asked to provide sworn testimony to Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald in the next few weeks after Rove attorney Robert Luskin told Fitzgerald about a conversation he had with her, the two sources said," according to The Washington Post.

Walter Pincus--Reporter for The Washington Post, Pincus's piece in the Nieman Reports revealed that he testified in the grand jury inquiry about a conversation with senior White House officials about Joseph Wilson's wife.

Bob Woodward -- Famous for his work at The Washington Post where he helped uncover the Watergate scandal along with Carl Bernstein. On November 16th, the Post reported that Woodward gave a two hour deposition to Special Counsel Fitzgerald in which it was revealed that an unnamed Bush administration official told Woodward about Plame's identity which was prior to any known disclosures of the CIA analyst's identity.

The Administration

Ari Fleischer--Former press secretary for President George Bush. It has been alleged that Fleischer was a leaker in the Valerie Plame legal inquiry.

John Hannah--Aide to Vice President Dick Cheney questioned in the Valerie Plame grand jury inquiry. The Washington Post reported in October 2005 that Hannah is "worried he may be implicated in the investigation, according to two U.S. officials." (The Washington Post, October 20, 2005)

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby--Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. In September, New York Times reporter Judith Miller agreed to testify before a grand jury after it was revealed Libby wrote Miller offering her a waiver allowing her to discuss their conversations.

Karl Rove--Deputy White House Chief of Staff for President Bush. Rove has testified four times before the grand jury investigating the Plame CIA leak inquiry.

Plame and Wilson

Valerie Plame, a.k.a. Valerie Wilson--Officer for the CIA, Plame was identified in a July 14, 2003 column by Robert D. Novak as the wife of former diplomat Joseph C. Wilson who had written an op-ed in The New York Times critical of the Bush administration's allegation that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Africa.

The Justice Department is currently investigating if a member of the White House staff revealed Plame's identity to the press, a violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.

Joseph C. Wilson IV--Former U.S. foreign service officer and diplomat. On July 6, 2003, Wilson published an op-ed in The New York Times that accused the Bush administration of "exaggerating the Iraqi" threat to build its case for war against Iraq.

Wilson is the wife of Valerie Plame a.k.a. Valerie Wilson--the CIA officer that is the central figure of the Justice Department's investigation-- and traveled to Niger for the CIA to investigate assertions that Iraq was seeking to obtain Yellowcake uranium from Niger. In his op-ed, Wilson concluded there was very little evidence that Iraq was trying to do so.