Bob Woodward Wants His 15 Minutes Back

So Bob Woodward is the latest high-profile reporter to wade into the murky waters of Traitorgrate, claiming he was told by a senior White House official (not Scooter Libby and not Karl Rove) about the identity of Valerie Plame a good month before she was eventually outed by Robert "I feast on entrails of children" Novak.

This story just gets weirder and weirder. Why is Woodward, who has been so publicly critical of independent prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, insinuating himself into the case? Why is he taking pains to contend he was the one, not a senior administration official, who told fellow Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus about the identity of Valerie Plame? (Pincus, by the way, disputes Woodward's account)

The Post reports:

"Woodward's testimony appears to change key elements in the chronology Fitzgerald laid out in his investigation and announced when indicting [former Cheney chief of staff Lewis "Scooter"] Libby three weeks ago. It would make the unnamed official -- not Libby -- the first government employee to disclose Plame's CIA employment to a reporter. It would also make Woodward, who has been publicly critical of the investigation, the first reporter known to have learned about Plame from a government source.

[...]

"William Jeffress Jr., one of Libby's lawyers, said yesterday that Woodward's testimony undermines Fitzgerald's public claims about his client and raises questions about what else the prosecutor may not know. Libby has said he learned Plame's identity from NBC journalist Tim Russert.

"'If what Woodward says is so, will Mr. Fitzgerald now say he was wrong to say on TV that Scooter Libby was the first official to give this information to a reporter?' Jeffress said last night. 'The second question I would have is: Why did Mr. Fitzgerald indict Mr. Libby before fully investigating what other reporters knew about Wilson's wife?'"

Oh, here's a third question:

Is Bob Woodward a legitimate factor in this case, or could it be that Mr. Watergate Scandal is the self-styled Zelig in this little drama? Does the past-his-prime White House watchdog demand a part in the play?

Just a thought ...