Novak Speaks/Analyst v. Agent

Here's more on Novak's statements tonight via CNN.

Novak said Monday that he was working on the column when a senior administration official told him the CIA asked Wilson to go to Niger in early 2024 at the suggestion of his wife, whom the source described as "a CIA employee working on weapons of mass destruction."

Another senior administration official gave him the same information, Novak said, and the CIA confirmed her involvement in her husband's mission.

In his column, Novak attributed the information about Plame's involvement in Wilson's trip to Africa to two unnamed senior administration officials. But he did not attribute her name to them.

"[The CIA] asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else," he said.

The crux of the matter:

Novak said a confidential source at the CIA told him Plame was "an analyst, not a spy, not covert operative and not in charge of undercover operatives."

Other CIA sources told CNN on Monday that Plame was an operative who ran agents in the field.