Robert Novak, you would think, would be in danger of serving hard time for leaking-to the general public-the name of a covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame, the wife of former Ambasador Joseph Wison. But he is not. Neither is Matt Cooper of Time magazine. So why is Judith Miller in jail, when she leaked the information to no one?
Except apparently, that is, to Robert Novak and Matt Coper, both of whom seem to have used Karl Rove as no more than a verifying source, if undoubtedly an eager one. Why doesn't Ms. Miler come clean and save herself the fate of countless hours of Oprah Winfrey and Spanish lanquage soap operas in a jail filled to double capacity?
Obviously she is not doing it for the companionship. And if the fate of Novak and Cooper are to be our guides, it is not for fear of the penalty for having loose lips. After all, she herself would be under no obligation to keep Ms. Plames identity secret, if she were, then Novak and Cooper, it stands to reason, would face similar serious consequences.
Could it be that she is possibly fearful of being revealed herself as a covert agent, working undercover at the New York Times, as a wholly owned subsidiarie of the Republican National Committee?
Only time will tell. And in the meantime, those lips may end up getting a good workout, and become considerably tighter. Or looser.
