Why now? (Woodward Revelation)

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001523544

But what happened before getting to this point? It was just a few days before the indictment of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was announced on Oct. 28 that Downie learned from Woodward that the Watergate legend had his own connection to the Valerie Plame case.


"It was getting near the time of the indictments and he came to me because he thought I should know," Downie told E&P today, adding that he did not initially show his disappointment in not knowing the information earlier because he had to decide how to proceed. "This was important information to have, and we needed to decide ho to use it. The important thing was to decide what to do. There were all sorts of journalistic questions -- whether this affected our reporting and what we should be doing as a result."

Downie said he immediately put Woodward in touch with Post attorneys so that they would know about his information in case any subpoenas were forthcoming. None ever materialized, but Fitzgerald did request Woodward's testimony shortly afterward, although Downie does not recall exactly when.

"We had to decide what to do as a result," Downie added, saying he was told at the time the identity of the source. "We looked at the circumstances under which he had been told and if we were still bounded by the confidentiality agreement, which we were."