And there is a new twist in the role of right-wing columnist Robert Novak, who first publicly named Valerie Plame. The New York Times is reporting that it has confirmed that Rove spoke with Novak as he was preparing his July 2003 article that exposed Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operative. The paper says its source is “someone who has been officially briefed on the matter.” Rove has told investigators that he learned Plame’s name from Novak, as well as the circumstances in which her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, traveled to Africa to investigate possible uranium sales to Iraq. After hearing Novak’s account, The Times says Rove told Novak, “I heard that, too.” The previously undisclosed telephone conversation allegedly took place on July 8, 2003. The Times’ source says the call was initiated by Novak. Six days later, Novak’s column reported that two senior administration officials had told him that Wilson’s wife “had suggested sending him” to Africa. That column was the first time in which Plame was publicly identified as a CIA operative. Meanwhile, The Washington Post is reporting that Rove told investigators that he first learned about Plame from a journalist and that he later learned her name from Novak.