Send Fitzgerald home

I have no doubt that Patrick Fitzgerald had only the finest of intentions when he began his probe into the CIA “leak” scandal. And I have no doubt that he means well even today. But it is time for him to go back to Chicago.

With the recent revelation that Bob Woodward – one of Washington's oldest and most respected muckrakers – knew the identity of Valerie Plame in mid-June of 2003, it has become frightfully apparent that the supposedly-undercover CIA officer's identity was less of a secret in Washington circles than Ted Kennedy's drinking problems.

The number of reporters who knew about Joseph Wilson's wife – and the number of different government sources they are citing – seems to multiply by the day. Any attempt to find the first “leak” is admirable on Mr. Fitzgerald's part, but with this many pieces of gossip running lose, one must begin to wonder if they are even correlated or merely the many independent incarnations of a classic inside the Beltway open secret.

Worse, that Scooter Libby – just recently one of the most powerful men in America – is currently facing charges related to his Grand Jury testimony seems plainly wrong at this juncture, given that the supporting foundation of such charges – that Mr. Libby was the first government official to open his mouth to the media about Ms. Plame – appears to now be completely contradicted.

It is time for Mr. Libby to go back to work, Mr. Wilson to return to obscurity and Mr. Fitzgerald to catch the next flight to Chicago. We live in an open and free society where investigations like this are a very part of the American fabric. But not every investigation, in such a society, should turn up a witch, and this is quickly becoming one of those hunts that ought to end quietly.