A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

In a stunning twist in the Plame investigation, Bob Woodward has admitted that he was told of Valerie Plame's identity more than two years ago. What this means for Lewis Libby and Karl Rove is still unclear, but why is it that Woodward did not tell anyone about this earlier? This is exceedingly puzzling, especially given the fact that Woodward has been pooh-poohing the investigation for quite a while now--a conflict of interest that may very well get him into trouble in any court of journalistic ethics and integrity.

Oh, I suppose you are desperate for some kind of speculation regarding the Libby case. So I give you Maguire:

As to the specifics of the Libby indictment, a bold prosecutor might press ahead - arguably, Libby's statement that he believed he was hearing about Plame for the first time when he spoke to Russert is still false, and arguably, Libby's assertions that he sourced his knowledge to other reporters when he spoke to Miller and Cooper are also false.

But it will take a mighty straight-faced jury to focus exclusively on that if the defense can bring in a parade of reporters that may have, directly or indirectly, put the Wilson and wife story in Libby's ear.

And in the court of public opinion, a Bush pardon in Jan 2009 becomes a lot less  politically charged if earnest Reps (and John McCain!) are convinced that the prosecution was deeply flawed.

I don't know about the pardon issue, but the rest of the analysis seems credible. And it may apply to Karl Rove as well.