Was Plame outed by a "Who's Who in America" book?
Intersting twist?
from 
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This article came out in the "Minneapolis Star Tribune"
'Who's Who' could be source for CIA leak
Anne E. Kornblut, New York Times
August 2, 2005 LEAK0802
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One of the most puzzling aspects of the CIA leak case has had to do with the name of the exposed officer. Why did syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak identify her as Valerie Plame when he exposed her link to the CIA in July 2003 when she had been known for years both at the intelligence agency and in her personal life by her married name, Valerie Wilson?
Novak offered a possible explanation for the disconnect on Monday, suggesting in his column that he could have obtained Wilson's maiden name from the directory "Who's Who in America," which used that name in identifying her as the wife of Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador.
Novak did not explicitly cite the directory as his source. Nor was it his first public reference to the "Who's Who" listing. In a column in October 2003, three months after he had first disclosed Valerie Wilson's name and her role, Novak cited the published listing as evidence that Wilson's identity was "no secret."
But in drawing renewed attention to the published listing, Novak seemed to suggest more directly than ever that the scrutiny that has focused on which of his sources had provided him the name might have been misplaced and that he might well have figured it out by himself.
Any request that he should have withheld Wilson's name from his column of July 14, 2003, would have been "meaningless" once he had been told she was married to Joseph Wilson, Novak wrote on Monday, because she was openly listed in the directory. But Novak also wrote that he would never have used Valerie Wilson's name had anyone from the CIA told him that doing so would endanger her or anyone else.
The special counsel in the leak case has been trying to determine whether government officials violated federal laws about the handling of classified information when someone leaked Wilson's identity and CIA role to reporters.
The fact that Novak identified her as Valerie Plame had seemed to some observers to narrow the field of possible suspects in the leak case, because she had not used that name since her marriage in 1998.
A State Department memorandum, drafted in 2003 and taken on board Air Force One the week before Novak's column ran identifies Wilson by her married name rather than Plame. If not for the "Who's Who" directory, it is not clear how Novak would have decided to identify Wilson as Plame rather than the name she commonly used.
In the "Who's Who" directory for 2003, personal information about Joseph Wilson includes his origins in Bridgeport, Conn., and the names of his previous wife and his four children. His current wife is listed as Valerie Elise Plame, and their date of marriage, April 3, 1998. There is no mention of her employer.
A few questions must be asked about this article.
1. Why is a New York Times writer needing to post his article in the "Minneapolis Star Tribune"? Why did the New York Times carry this story?
2. If Valerie Plame-Wilson is so deep under cover, then how did a Who's Who listing get her name?
3. Could this be the reason why Novak is not in jail, while other reporters are? Sometimes you don't need secret informers to find a name.
That's just a few thoughts from me. (Anything to move talk of this subject away from another poster)
'Who's Who' could be source for CIA leak
Anne E. Kornblut, New York Times
August 2, 2005 LEAK0802
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One of the most puzzling aspects of the CIA leak case has had to do with the name of the exposed officer. Why did syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak identify her as Valerie Plame when he exposed her link to the CIA in July 2003 when she had been known for years both at the intelligence agency and in her personal life by her married name, Valerie Wilson?
Novak offered a possible explanation for the disconnect on Monday, suggesting in his column that he could have obtained Wilson's maiden name from the directory "Who's Who in America," which used that name in identifying her as the wife of Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador.
Novak did not explicitly cite the directory as his source. Nor was it his first public reference to the "Who's Who" listing. In a column in October 2003, three months after he had first disclosed Valerie Wilson's name and her role, Novak cited the published listing as evidence that Wilson's identity was "no secret."
But in drawing renewed attention to the published listing, Novak seemed to suggest more directly than ever that the scrutiny that has focused on which of his sources had provided him the name might have been misplaced and that he might well have figured it out by himself.
Any request that he should have withheld Wilson's name from his column of July 14, 2003, would have been "meaningless" once he had been told she was married to Joseph Wilson, Novak wrote on Monday, because she was openly listed in the directory. But Novak also wrote that he would never have used Valerie Wilson's name had anyone from the CIA told him that doing so would endanger her or anyone else.
The special counsel in the leak case has been trying to determine whether government officials violated federal laws about the handling of classified information when someone leaked Wilson's identity and CIA role to reporters.
The fact that Novak identified her as Valerie Plame had seemed to some observers to narrow the field of possible suspects in the leak case, because she had not used that name since her marriage in 1998.
A State Department memorandum, drafted in 2003 and taken on board Air Force One the week before Novak's column ran identifies Wilson by her married name rather than Plame. If not for the "Who's Who" directory, it is not clear how Novak would have decided to identify Wilson as Plame rather than the name she commonly used.
In the "Who's Who" directory for 2003, personal information about Joseph Wilson includes his origins in Bridgeport, Conn., and the names of his previous wife and his four children. His current wife is listed as Valerie Elise Plame, and their date of marriage, April 3, 1998. There is no mention of her employer.
A few questions must be asked about this article.
1. Why is a New York Times writer needing to post his article in the "Minneapolis Star Tribune"? Why did the New York Times carry this story?
2. If Valerie Plame-Wilson is so deep under cover, then how did a Who's Who listing get her name?
3. Could this be the reason why Novak is not in jail, while other reporters are? Sometimes you don't need secret informers to find a name.
That's just a few thoughts from me. (Anything to move talk of this subject away from another poster)
