http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/30/lea...tage/index.htmlState Department official source of Plame leakWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was the source who revealed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame to syndicated columnist Robert Novak in 2003, touching off a federal investigation, two sources familiar with Armitage's role tell CNN.
The sources said Armitage revealed Plame's role at the CIA almost inadvertently in a casual conversation with Novak, and it is not clear if he knew her identity was classified at the time.
Armitage was not indicted by the federal grand jury that investigated the disclosure of Plame's name to Novak and other journalists.
In a July 14, 2003, column, Novak noted that Plame was a CIA operative, citing two senior Bush administration officials. The column was primarily about Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, a former career diplomat and critic of the intelligence underlying the invasion of Iraq.
Novak has never revealed the original source of the information about Plame. However, he has confirmed that President Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, confirmed the information and was the second source cited in the column.
Novak has said he would not reveal the identity of the original source unless the source came forward. However, he said the special counsel in the CIA leak investigation, Patrick Fitzgerald, learned who the source was independently.
Fitzgerald has said he does not plan to bring any charges against Novak's original source.
Calls to Armitage for comment were not returned Tuesday.
The Armitage connection to the Novak column is also outlined in a new book titled "Hubris" by Michael Isikoff and David Korn.
In the book, Armitage is quoted as telling former Assistant Secretary of State Carl Ford that "I'm afraid I may be the guy that caused this whole thing."
Calls to Ford for comment also were not returned Tuesday.
After Novak's column ran, Wilson accused Bush administration officials of leaking his wife's name in retaliation for his criticisms about intelligence used to buttress the case for invading Iraq, but the scenario described by the sources appears to contradict those arguments.
Deliberately revealing the identify of a CIA operative can be a crime, and Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, was appointed in September 2003 as a special counsel to investigate whether any laws were broken.
No one has been indicted for leaking Plame's identity, but I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, has been charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators for allegedly giving false information about his discussions with journalists about Plame.
Libby has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
Armitage, 65, was No. 2 at the State Department under former Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2001 to 2005.
He left his post after Powell resigned at the beginning of President Bush's second term.