Bob Novak is is now saying that his source says that Valerie Plame was an “analyst” and not an “operative” at the CIA. Joe Wilson remembers their conversation in July a bit differently.
According to what Wilson told TPM early Monday evening, when Novak first contacted him in July, he told him that he had a CIA source that told him that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, was a “CIA operative.”
Would Wilson confirm it?
Wilson declined to discuss the matter, as Novak’s original article made clear.
When Novak’s article appeared, it sourced the story to “two senior administration officials.”
Wilson says he called Novak back and asked why the article said ‘two senior administration officials’, whereas during their phone call he had sourced it to someone at the CIA
According to Wilson, Novak said “I misspoke the first time.”
One thing this means is that, according to Wilson, Novak knew Plame was an “operative” rather than an “analyst” at the time he placed his first call to Wilson.