Woodward A Boon To Libby Defense?

Washington Post Scribe's Version Contradicts Prosecution Contention

(CBS/AP)  Bob Woodward's version of when and where he learned the identity of a CIA operative contradicts a special prosecutor's contention that Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide was the first to make the disclosure to reporters.

Attorneys for the aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, described Wednesday's statement by the Washington Post's assistant managing editor as helpful for their defense, although Libby is charged with lying to a grand jury and the FBI, not with disclosing the CIA official's name.

"Hopefully, as information is obtained from reporters like Bob Woodward, the real facts will come out," lawyer Ted Wells said Wednesday.

Woodward, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, said he had not told his bosses until last month that he had learned about Valerie Plame's identity and her work at the CIA more than two years ago from a high-level Bush administration official.

"I had a source who told me in a very casual offhand way that this woman worked at the CIA. I attached no significance to it," Woodward told CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger. "Eventually there was an investigation but, as reporters are being subpoenaed sent off to jail, whatever, I wanted to protect my sources at all cost and I did and I continue to."

Woodward said his source has talked to Fitzgerald and given him permission to talk to Fitzgerald, but still wants to remain anonymous.

Woodward's testimony may mean that this case isn't coming to a close any time soon, reports Borger. The special prosecutor's office had no comment.

Woodward made his name with his coverage of the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration. He kept secret for decades the identity of "Deep Throat," a key source in that reporting.

Woodward said he had apologized for not giving Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. much earlier notice of his reporting on Plame.

In Thursday's edition of the newspaper, Downie said Woodward had made a mistake.

"He still should have come forward, which he now admits," Downie said.

To critics who are taking shots at him, Woodward said, "Journalism is a contact sport. I was 29 when people who really knew how to shoot were around," referring to Watergate.

Because his source in the leak case has refused to be identified publicly, Woodward said his hands are tied. "We can't tell the whole story. I would like to. It's one that will be told some day," he said.

Columnist Robert Novak disclosed Plame's identity and her work at the CIA on July 14, 2003, eight days after her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador, had accused the White House of misrepresenting intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, was indicted last month on charges that he lied to FBI agents and a grand jury about when he learned Plame's identity and how he subsequently disclosed it to reporters.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, in announcing the charges, portrayed Libby as the first high-level government official to reveal Plame's identity to reporters in summer 2003.