I have not seen a diary yet proposing an idea I've heard circulated before...that Judith Miller's source was not Scooter Libby but in fact John Bolton. Apparently the person to bolster this claim the most in the last month is none other than the Ambassador himself. He's been sighted visiting her at the Alexandria Detention Facility. Keep in mind in his new job with the UN he spends most of his time in New York City...

Quote the Saturday edition of the Washington Post:

Bolton's visit raised some eyebrows in Washington. A vocal defender of administration claims in 2003 that Iraq was seeking weapons of mass destruction, he could have had access to a State Department memo, parts of which were classified, that detailed Wilson's trip to Niger to determine whether Iraq was seeking uranium there and identified his wife as a covert CIA operative. Who saw or discussed the memo has been a central question for Fitzgerald.

Bolton declined through a spokesman to discuss his visit to Miller or his reasons for going. "This has nothing to do with his job here," the spokesman said. "He doesn't want to talk about it."

As Undersecretary for Arms Control at the State Department, he's probably the one person in Washington whose job description practically included reading the memo. It's also sort of strange that he and Paul D. Wolfowitz (both insufferable neocon hawks) were given these cushy institutional jobs outside the Administration early in Bush's second term. Libby meanwhile, is still chugging along at the Office of the Vice President along with Andrew Card and Karl Rove in the White House.

But there's one other consideration to keep in mind here. Bolton leaking the information would have made it very difficult for Colin Powell to stay above the fray. Rumsfeld didn't need Wolfowitz's constant agitation to view Iraq negatively. Powell was far more reluctant. This may be the real story...that Miller and Cooper were being leaked Plame's identity not to undermine Wilson himself but the person who intended to use Wilson's report against the hawks.

And that may be why Fitzgerald has been so guarded. If he can't prove that Administration officials leaked the name for the purpose of outing Plame, he has a weak case at best.