Yes, Armitage Says, He Was Plame Leak

Richard L. Armitage confirmed Thursday that when he was the No. 2 State Department official, in 2003, he inadvertently disclosed the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame in conversations with two reporters.

The former deputy secretary of State, acknowledging that he was the source of a leak that triggered a federal investigation, said he never intended to reveal Plame’s identity. He apologized for his conversations with syndicated columnist Robert Novak and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.

For almost three years, an investigation led by Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has tried to determine whether Bush administration officials intentionally revealed Plame’s identity as a covert operative as a way to punish her husband for criticizing the Bush administration’s march to war with Iraq.

“I made a terrible mistake -- not maliciously, but I made a terrible mistake,” Armitage said Thursday. Armitage said he had assumed Plame’s job was not a secret because it was included in a State Department memo. Armitage’s admission suggested that the leak did not originate at the White House as retribution.

Armitage, whose admission was first reported by CBS News on Thursday, said he had cooperated fully with Fitzgerald’s investigation. He agreed to speak to reporters after Fitzgerald released him from a promise of confidentiality.