What Sparked the Leak Investigation
The federal investigation into whether Bush administration officials leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent began sometime after syndicated columnist Robert Novak first revealed the officer's name in a July 14, 2003 column.

Novak's article, which cited "two administration officials" as his source, appeared about a week after the agent's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, publicly challenged President Bush's claim in his State of the Union address that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from the African nation of Niger.

Tracking Down the Suspected Leak and Journalists' Sources
To bring charges under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, investigators must prove that the accused intentionally revealed the name of an undercover U.S. agent, knowing that the agent was a covert officer and the officer's identity was not disclosed earlier. The special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, has subpoenaed a number of journalists to answer questions regarding the case, arguing in court that journalists and their conversations with administration officials are of unique importance in finding the source of the leak.

The Debate over Protecting Sources
Terence Smith discusses the merits of a prosecutor's right to subpoena reporters in criminal grand jury investigations and a journalist's privilege to protect the identities of confidential sources with former U.S. attorney Joseph DiGenova and First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, who represented Time magazine and Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper in August 2004.