Writing in his Altercation column, Eric Alterman quotes from Newsweek:
Indeed, [Richard] Hohlt is such a good source that after [Robert] Novak finished his column naming [Valerie] Plame, he testified, he did something most journalists rarely do: he gave the lobbyist an advance copy of his column. What Novak didn't tell the jury is what the lobbyist then did with it: Hohlt confirmed to NEWSWEEK that he faxed the forthcoming column to their mutual friend Karl Rove (one of Novak's sources for the Plame leak), thereby giving the White House a heads up on the bombshell to come.
Alterman interprets this passage to claim that Novak "cleared his Plame-leak column with Rove in advance":
What more do you need to know? The guy [Novak] cleared his Plame-leak column with Rove in advance. Are there any rules at all on the Washington Post edit page?
But the passage above doesn't state that Novak knew Hohlt would fax the column to Rove. Maybe he did, but we have no evidence for that assertion; it's purely speculation on Alterman's part.
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