....either cooperate with the special counsel's probe or face criminal charges for his involvement in the leak, attorneys close to the case said. The senior official decided to cooperate with the investigation and told Fitzgerald that Libby and Rove spoke to reporters about Plame Wilson, the attorneys said.
The official has been identified by attorneys and four current and former White House officials as John Hannah, a senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton.
Where is Hannah now? Cheney promoted him after Libby's resignation, to Assistant to the vice president for national security affairs. So, Hannah's cooperation must have been so great it earned him a complete pass.
Jason says Robert Novak's source is still unknown. But, as TalkLeft reported this weekend, recent Libby pleadings (here and here) say that Fitz recently disclosed (perhaps in discovery) that Fitz learned Novak's source in or around February, 2004, just two months after his initial appointment in December, 2003.
Based on Libby's pleadings, and the timing of Hannah's cooperation, which Jason puts at February, 2004, and UPI's Sale confirming that's when they put the screws to Hannah, I'm going to take a speculative leap forward and posit that Hannah gave up Stephen Hadley as Novak's undisclosed source (the other has been confirmed as Rove) at the same time he gave up Libby and Rove. Hadley and Novak then went in and confirmed with Fitzgerald. (It's been obvious to anyone following the case that Novak cooperated early on, which the Washington Post confirmed here.)
Also, I think this makes Stephen Hadley Woodward's source -- as Jason and Larissa at Raw Story have been telling us for months (details here) -- and that Hadley is the official who contacted Fitz to correct his prior testimony a week after Libby was indicted.
What about Armitage? He's probably off the hook and considered by Fitz to be an innocent person whose identity still is being protected. He just joined the board of ConocoPhillips, which surely he wouldn't have done if there was a cloud hanging over his head.
Other loose ends and remaining questions? Here are mine:
Is Hadley really Novak's second source or was it someone at the State Department or CIA? Who is Walter Pincus's source? Did Rove give up Libby and/or Hadley in the 11th hour to avoid getting indicted, knowing that Hannah had nailed him? Did Hadley get a pass or is he going to be indicted with Rove?
Who is Fitz using for corroborative witnesses to Hannah? Best bets: David Wurmser, Fred Fleitz and Marc Grossman.
I wonder, does Luskin have any more magic tricks in his hat for Karl Rove? If so, it sounds like he better pull them out now.
