[JURIST] Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward [Wikipedia profile] disclosed Wednesday that he testified earlier this week before a federal grand jury that he was told the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame several weeks before her identity was published, evidence that prosecutors are continuing to investigate the leak of Plame's identity. Woodward's statement [text] comes more than two weeks after Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald [official website] announced the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [PDF text; JURIST report], former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, for perjury and obstruction of justice. Woodward said he testified about interviews with three administration officials, one of whom was Libby. Although he did not name the other two officials, Woodward said that he was told of Plame's identity [AP report] by an official other than Libby. Woodward said he was contacted by Fitzgerald after one of the officials whom he interviewed told Fitzgerald about the meeting. He said the mention of Plame was "casual and offhand." Fitzgerald has been investigating the disclosure [JURIST news archive] of Plame's identity, which was ultimately published by columnist Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, had alleged that the Bush administration intentionally released her identity after he criticized its use of intelligence in the run up to the Iraq war. Reuters has more.

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