ARMITAGE AND PLAME….Today the Washington Post reports on a Vanity Fair article quoting a former Washington Post editor commenting on a book written by a Washington Post reporter ? and then asks their former editor if he was quoted accurately. He says he wasn’t:
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.
….”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. If Bradlee knows who Woodward’s source is, and if he really did tell Vanity Fair that it was a “fair assumption” to suspect Armitage, then it’s probably Armitage. But did VF writer Marie Brenner tape her interview with Bradlee? Inquiring minds want to know what Bradlee really said.
POSTSCRIPT: For what it’s worth, Armitage certainly knew Plame’s identity, and the Wall Street Journal suggested (indirectly) months ago that Armitage was a prime suspect to be Woodward’s source. A fair assumption indeed.
