Mr. Cooper's article about Ms. Plame appeared after the Novak column.

Some administration critics asserted that her identity had been disclosed in the Novak column as part of a campaign to undermine her husband.

As he sat on his deck staring at the Novak column, Mr. Wilson came out his back door.

Enter a Special Prosecutor The Novak column prompted a criminal investigation into whether government officials had violated a 1982 law that makes it a crime in some circumstances to disclose the identity of an undercover agent.

But Mr. Tenet was aware of the Novak column, and was not pleased, the C.I.A. official said.

The Novak column prompted the C.I.A. to request an inquiry by the Justice Department, which turned the case over to Mr. Fitzgerald.

Mr. Cooper wrote about Ms. Plame only after the Novak column had identified her, and Ms. Miller, though she conducted interviews on the subject, has never written about it.

Mr. Bush took no action after the Novak column.

As a piece of journalism, the Novak column raises disturbing ethical questions.

"That's about the only time that a Novak column benefited me," Mr. Weaver said this week in a telephone interview.