Reply #7: Where would it have started??? In Cheney's office.

[skip fox]

Since Wilson was reportedly sent at the behest of the Vice President (a bit more complicated than that, but from the administrative perspective, Cheney's office would seem to be the responsible party), either the President called Cheney's office (asking why the hell he sent Wilson "of all people" to investigate) or Cheney took it upon himself (or his aide Scooter Libby did) to find out how Wilson got assigned. A few calls would confirm that he was assigned by the CIA at his wife's suggestion. At that point Cheney's office would use its clearance and find out Plame was indeed CIA and they would also realize the general method of discrediting Wilson.

But Cheney would probably not have acted on his own, especially when he knew that Rove specialized beating such messengers into the ground. (His office may never have been involved in other that telling Rove that Plame was CIA and got Wilson the assignment. Of course that's a major violation of the law in itself.)

Rove would have assigned the calls, at least in general, telling the officials to call their own contacts initially and to confirm the information of other reporters in follow-up calls.

Everything I hear about Fitzgerald gives me confidence that if this is so, it will come out, even if these sources invoke the 5th.