[JURIST] Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak on Wednesday revealed [column] that Karl Rove [official profile], President Bush's top political advisor, was one of two secondary sources who confirmed that former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was employed by the CIA and helped initiate the ambassador's 2002 mission to Niger. It was Novak's July 2003 column that publicly outed Plame, thus igniting the CIA leak scandal [JURIST news archive]. Novak did not reveal publicly his primary source for the article, who still has not come forward, but he did identify the second confirming source, CIA public information officer Bill Harlow, who has already publicly disclosed what he told Novak.

Novak's Wednesday column came after Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald [official website] informed him that the CIA investigation into his role in the Plame affair has concluded. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense profile], who has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to obstruction of justice and perjury charges [PDF indictment; JURIST report] in connection with the case, requested a one-month delay in his trial [JURIST report] last month, which is now scheduled to begin next February. AP has more.