The reason, I believe, that the special counsel was appointed is because of the leaked George Tenet letter. As I recall the timeline, Tenet's letter, which was leaked to the MSM, triggered the "How Dare They!" reflex from the Congressional Democrats, which then demanded, and got, a special counsel.

I, personally, would have dumped the whole load on them right then and there, but the President didn't have the whtire story, as key people not exactly friendly to him decided to withold pertinent information from him.

Christian Rocca, su Il Foglio di oggi, racconta agli italiani (che non hanno avuto modo di leggerla da nessun’altra parte) la patetica conclusione del “Plamegate”, lo scandalo che – nei sogni bagnati dei liberal di tutto il pianeta – avrebbe dovuto …

Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told columnist Robert Novak the identity of underc…

But, there is a problem.

As we already know, the DOJ was informed of Armitage's leaks PRIOR to the appointment of Fitzgerald by then AJ John Ashcroft. Armitage was interviewed by the FBI about his leaks prior to the appointment of Fitzgerald.

Ashcroft was and is a strict Bush loyalist. So, if Armitage was indeed the leaker, why appoint a special counsel?

Something else is going on here.