1. Woodward says that when he learned Plame's name (in mid-June 2003), he was in the middle of finishing a book, and that's why he didn't want to come clean with his executive editor at the Washington Post about his involvement in the Valerie Plame affair - he was afraid of getting subpoenaed while working on the book.
When Woodward learned Plame's name, he told The Associated Press Wednesday, he was in the middle of finishing a book about the administration's decision to go to war in Iraq, and didn't want to be subpoenaed to testify.But no one was being subpoenaed in June 2003, no one was even talking about subpoenas at that time. Patrick Fitzgerald wasn't even appointed as special prosecutor until December 2003, and the first journalists, from NBC and Time, weren't subpoenaed until May 2004. Judy Miller wasn't subpoeaned until August 2004, and she didn't do jail time until summer 2005.
So why was Woodward afraid to come clean to his editor between June 2003 and December 2003, when PlameGate was already a massive scandal, yet before there was any talk at all of anyone being subpoenaed? Woodward's fear-of-subpoena excuse just doesn't hold water.
2. Today Woodward adds the following excuse for not coming clean:
"The grand jury was going and reporters were being jailed, and I hunkered down more than I usually do."Again, this is why he didn't want to fess up what he knew to his editors, fear of going to jail.
Okay, that's a seemingly honest excuse for why Woodward might have been worried once reporters started getting subpoenas in May 2004. It doesn't explain why he didn't come clean before that time. And more importantly, it doesn't explain why Woodward didn't come clean this past summer. Let me explain...
3. By July 2005, Woodward was no longer worried about possibly being jailed, in fact, he offered on Larry King Live to be jailed in place of Judith Miller. Fair enough. Maybe Woodward really had gotten over the initial fear he suffered in mid-2004, the fear that stopped him from coming clean to his exec editor back then.
But if Woodward was over his fear of facing jail-time by mid-2005, over it enough that he was willing to offer to go to jail in Judity Miller's stead, then why didn't Woodward come clean with his editor at that time? In fact, Woodward didn't come clean with his editor until just last month, October 2005, three months AFTER he offered to go to jail for Judy. So now we know that the fear-of-jail excuse doesn't hold water either.
So, basically, Woodward's explanations as to why he didn't come clean with his executive editor just don't add up.
