WASHINGTON -- Washington Post editor Bob Woodward tried to fend off criticism Wednesday over revelations that he didn't reveal to his bosses that a top Bush administration official had told him the name of a CIA operative.
"Journalism is a contact sport," Woodward told The Associated Press Wednesday. Referring to criticism he experienced during his reporting on the 1970s Watergate scandal, Woodward said, "I was 29 when people who really knew how to shoot were around."
Woodward said he apologized to Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. for not telling him until last month that he had learned about Valerie Plame and her work at the CIA more than two years ago.
He said he had been working on a book, "Plan of Attack," about the administration's decision to go to war in Iraq, and he did not want to be subpoenaed by a special prosecutor investigating the leak of Plame's name.
"I hunkered down more than I usually do," Woodward said.
Downie said Wednesday on CNN's "The Situation Room": "Bob has acknowledged today that he made a mistake in not telling me about it sooner. He's apologized to me and to the newspaper. And we're going to move along from here now and work on other reporting of his in the future."
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, 55, Vice President Cheney's former top aide, was indicted last month for allegedly lying to FBI agents and a grand jury about how he learned about Plame and when he subsequently disclosed her identity to reporters.
Woodward said his Bush administration source recently asked him to answer questions posed by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. The source has refused to be identified publicly, Woodward said.
"When all of the story is told, it will be clear that I've just been an aggressive reporter," he said. "We can't tell the whole story. I would like to. It will be told someday."
