ben bradley & plame

* everyone is atwitter about ben bradley saying that armitage is woodward's plame source - although it's not clear that he actually outed armitage. here's wapo:

"Vanity Fair is reporting that former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee says it is reasonable to assume former State Department official Richard L. Armitage is likely the source who revealed CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward.

In an article to be published in the magazine today, Bradlee is quoted as saying: "That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption." Armitage was deputy secretary of State in President Bush's first term.

In an interview yesterday, Bradlee said he does know the identity of Woodward's source but does not recall making that precise statement to a Vanity Fair reporter. He said he has no interest in unmasking the official who first told Woodward about Plame in June 2003.

"I don't think I said it," Bradlee said. "I know who his source is, and I don't want to get into it... I have not told a soul who it is.""

hmmm - who knows? (fwiw, the VF piece was written by a friend of judy miller)

in any case, it might be time to read emptywheel's post about whether armitage is the guy - and follow her scenario for how that may have transpired.


incidentally, here's how wapo describes the outing:

Plame is at the center of an investigation by a special prosecutor into whether White House officials knowingly disclosed her name to the media to discredit allegations made by her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson

compare and contrast with the para in the nyt that i pointed to on friday:

Critics of the Bush administration have asserted that the destruction of Ms. Wilson's undercover status was an act of retaliation against her husband, Joseph C. Wilson

fwiw, brithume also did the "critics of Bush think..." thing today as well.