John Dean gives his theory on why Ashcroft removed himself from the Plame investigation:

Dean contends that the progress of the investigation -- including Attorney General Ashcroft's decision to recuse himself -- strongly suggests that at least one key witness has already come forward to cooperate with the government.

Hmmm.....who would that be? Did s/he get immunity? Can you trust the word of someone who's singing for his or her supper in such a high stakes investigation without some strong corrorboration?

We're dubious of Dean's theory. We think it's more likely that they know the culprit and Ashcroft is so close to him or her that everyone would scream "whitewash" if Ashcroft were still in charge at the end when he isn't charged. If you missed Dean's earlier column in which he argues the leak is a felony, you can read it here.

We also note that despite the headline of this article suggesting that Bush is urging his staff to cooperate with the investigation, he hasn't said that he told them to release reporters from their confidentiality agreements.