Editor and Publisher moves the Valerie Plame Wilson leak investigation story along a bit. They (and we) wondered about the subpoena received by Judith Miller of the Times, who has never had a bylined story on this case. The E&P explanation:
If Miller had Plame's name and identity, who was her source? If she didn't, why has she become embroiled in the current case?
The answer probably rests in the suspicions attending the staff of the vice president, who have become prime suspects as the source of the Plame leak. The man who seems to be emerging at the center of the probe is John Hannah, an aide with a profile lower than that of Cheney's chief of staff.
Hannah could be the link between Miller and Plame, as they have known each other for a long time -- one of a string of close associations she has with neo-cons in the Bush administration. Along with Miller and Bill Luti in Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith's office, Hannah and Libby were the recipients of Ahmad Chalabi's bogus intelligence on Iraqi WMD that was "stovepiped" to the top, and not vetted within the intelligence community.
John Hannah is not mentioned as a member of the White House Iraq Group, which is where we thought we would round up the appropriate suspects. However, Mr. Hannah was mentioned as a prime suspect last February, and this USA Today profile of Cheney describes Mr. Hannah as "Cheney's top Middle East adviser", so that fits.
The One by Two by Six theory is that six reporters received leaks - so far, we think we know about Novak, Pincus of the WaPo, Miller of the NY Times, and Cooper of TIME. I happen to think that the White House should have called Nick Kristof, since he had written two egregious but influential columns - he is my pick for a Surprise Subpoena.
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