One intriguing possibility, noted by several lawyers familiar with the case, is that Novak may have invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and that Fitzgerald has not yet chosen to give him immunity from prosecution to compel his testimony.
Both Fitzgerald and James Hamilton, Novak's attorney, declined to comment for this article. Hamilton said Novak "will not comment."
Since 1982, it has been a federal crime for anyone who has official access to the name of a covert intelligence operative to disclose that name.
The offense is punishable by as much as 10 years in prison -- but notoriously hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and rarely prosecuted.
The Plame leak struck columnists and editorialists as egregious not only because it might have been illegal, but also because of Wilson's assertion that his wife's career was destroyed -- and national security was damaged -- for political motives. Novak's column came out on July 14, 2003, eight days after Wilson published an op-ed article in the New York Times decrying the administration's alleged manipulation of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen called the leak "Nixonian in its malevolence." The New York Times editorial page called for an independent counsel to investigate, arguing that Attorney General John D. Ashcroft was too close to the White House.
Ashcroft ultimately acceded, and Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, took over the case. He is not only trying to determine who leaked to Novak. As his investigation has proceeded, he has learned of conversations between administration officials and other reporters, and is trying to figure out if any of these might have resulted in an illegal leak.
In addition to Cooper and Miller, he has subpoenaed Walter Pincus of The Post and Tim Russert of NBC News. He also approached Post reporter Glenn Kessler. But all negotiated agreements with the prosecutor that enabled them to answer questions without revealing confidential sources.
Cooper, too, initially negotiated a deal to testify about his contacts with I. Lewis Libby, an aide to Vice President Cheney; but, after that, Fitzgerald asked for additional testimony, apparently based on new information he had developed about Cooper's contacts.
Fitzgerald wants Miller to testify about her talks with Libby, even though she never wrote a story about Plame. Libby has signed a letter saying he waives his anonymity, but Miller still refuses to talk. Her position is that no such waiver under pressure from a prosecutor can ever be voluntary.
