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Woodward Apologizes to Post For Silence on Role in Leak Case
Bob Woodward is not naming his government source, citing confidentiality.
(Brad Barket - Getty Images)
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During the Watergate scandal, Woodward protected the identity of "Deep Throat" -- the government source who helped reveal Nixon administration corruption -- and kept the secret until former FBI official W. Mark Felt went public this spring. In this case, Woodward is protecting a Bush administration official who may be part of an effort to strike back at a White House critic. Woodward said he has "pushed" his source, without success, for permission to discuss the matter publicly.
Woodward and Downie said they doubt that The Post could have found a way to publish the content of Woodward's conversation, which under the ground rules established with the source was off the record. Woodward said that the unnamed official told him about Plame "in an offhand, casual manner . . . almost gossip" and that "I didn't attach any great significance to it."
Woodward said he realized that his June 2003 conversation with the unnamed official had greater significance after Libby was described in an indictment as having been the first administration official to tell a reporter -- the Times' Miller -- about Plame. Downie said he has told Woodward that he must be more communicative about sensitive matters in the future.
Woodward said that it was "pretty frightening" to watch Fitzgerald threatening reporters with jail -- Miller served 85 days for initially refusing to testify -- and that he "had a lot of pent-up frustration." Woodward said that he "was trying to get the information out and couldn't" because of his agreement with his source.
Woodward has periodically faced criticism for holding back scoops for his Simon & Schuster-published books, which are invariably trumpeted by The Post, and several Post staff members complained yesterday in in-house critiques of the newspaper about his role.
Downie said he remains comfortable with the arrangement, under which Woodward spends most of his time researching his books, such as "Bush at War" and "Plan of Attack," while giving The Post the first excerpts and occasionally writing news stories. He said Woodward "has brought this newspaper many important stories he could not have gotten without these book projects."
Woodward, who had lengthy interviews with President Bush for his two most recent books, dismissed criticism that he has grown too close to White House officials. He said he prods them into providing a fuller picture of the administration's inner workings.
"The net to readers is a voluminous amount of quality, balanced information that explains the hardest target in Washington," Woodward said, referring to the Bush administration.
