In an interview yesterday, Al Hunt, a former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a colleague of Mr. Novak's on the recently canceled CNN program "Capital Gang," said he supported Mr. Novak's decision not to discuss his sources publicly.
But Mr. Hunt said Mr. Novak, while protecting his sources, could probably shed some light on why Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper were facing jail on contempt charges, while he, apparently, was not.
"It does beg the question why Matt and Judy, and not Bob," Mr. Hunt, an editor for Bloomberg News, said. "It's just so confusing to citizens and people in our business. If Bob could provide some context, I think it would be helpful." [N.Y. Times, 6/30/05]
While Time Magazine has now stepped in to save its reporter, Matthew Cooper, from jail over his (and NYT's Judith Miller's) refusal to name names in the CIA name-drop case, the media has, so far, been loathe to step into the face of the main recipient of the leak that reduced the national security of the United States to just another political football: Robert Novak.  The Chicago-Sun Times and Creators Syndicate columnist, sometimes dubbed the "prince of darkness" by detractors and admirers alike, has so far skated merrily along the pavement while his colleagues Miller and Cooper, who unlike him, didn't write a column or story naming the CIA operative wife of White House scourge Joe Wilson, face the imminent threat of jail.
And while some, myself included, fail to see the nobility in defending the confidentiality of a government lowlife who not only jeopardized the identity of a covert operative, threatening not only her life but the lives of others, not to mention American national security, most of the journo pack has thus far laid off Novak. Watching the recently canceled "Capitol Gang" has become an increasingly surreal experience, as only on the rarest occasion do any of the other gang members seated at the table with Novak build up the cheek to ask him why he isn't the one going to jail. Did he talk? And if he did cooperate with the grand jury investigation, why shouldn't Cooper and Miller do the same? Most important, why so much deference to Novak from the MSM establishment? After all, Novak isn't exactly a saint. This the fellow, after all, who: - Was the leak bucket of choice for classified information from then "Scoop" Jackson aide Richard Perle during the 1970s, including a leak that Henry Kissinger and President Ford were preparing to make consessions on the Salt II treaty with the Soviets. Then-as-now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld apparently stepped in to squash the deal.
- Published a phony quote in 1972, supposedly from a Democratic Senator labeling candidate George McGovern as being for "acid, amnesty, and abortion";
- Called the Iraq war a proxy fight by the U.S. on behalf of Israel's Ariel Sharon, just like Pat Buchanan and others, but without the outcry from Jewish groups;
- Revealed convicted spy Robert Hanssen as the confidential source for some of his columns, including one in 1997 accusing then attorney general Janet Reno of covering up supposed Clinton fundraising no-nos (Novak said he felt justified in outing Hanssen "because he was a traitor," as if the current leaker isn't?);
- Accused Bush administration whistleblower Richard Clarke of writing his book because he harboed racist, sexist resentments against Condi Rice during an episode of "Crossfire";
- Failed to mention, until just months before the 2004 election, that his son was the marketing director of Regnery Press, the publisher behind the Swift Boat stories, which Novak vigorously supported in his columns and "Crossfire" commentary.
- Wrote the column, called "Mission to Niger," in which Valerie Plame's cover as a CIA operative was blown.
Novak -- who is also the guy who demanded that CBS out its source in the Rathergate story on George W. Bush's spotty National Guard service -- has so far refused to answer direct questions about the case, although he claims that he's not the reason Cooper and Miller are facing jail, and that "after it's all over," he'll write a column about it, (and "people will be surprised.") Novak has previously denied being one in a group of seven reporters "cold called" with the Plame leak by an administration official, writing in a later column: "The published report that somebody in the White House failed to plant this story with six reporters and finally found me as a willing pawn is simply untrue." But as Slate's Chris Suellentrop asked way back in October 2003, "how does he know the calls to the six reporters didn't happen? Does he know something about the Washington Post story that the rest of us don't? If so, why is he sitting on this scoop?) We've since learned that Cooper and Miller were among the scoop, and some claim Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell were in the group, too. But Novak is the only one -- however many people were given the information -- who used it. And yet, he's not facing jail time. I'm betting somewhere out there is a grand jury transcript with his name all over it. Links: BustBob petition |
