Conservative columnist Robert Novak will likely be
remembered for publicly identifying CIA operative Valerie Plame.
His July 14, 2003, column was printed days after Plame's husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, publicly claimed the Bush White House had knowingly distorted intelligence that Iraq tried to obtain uranium from Africa.
The column triggered a lengthy federal investigation into the Plame leak and resulted in the 2007 conviction of a top vice presidential aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, for perjury and obstruction of justice. Bush later commuted Libby's prison term.
Novak was accused by prominent journalists of being a pawn in a government retribution campaign against Wilson.
Novak died today at his home in Washington of a brain tumor first diagnosed in July 2008.
Conservative columnist Robert Novak will likely be remembered for publicly identifying CIA operative Valerie Plame.
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