We learned some new things today in the NovakRoveCooperMillerPlameWilsonGate affair. And why has it become fashionable to add "-gate" to the name of every scandal?

In this week's issue of Time magazine, Cooper says that Rove was the first person to tell him that Joseph Wilson's wife was a CIA operative. Rove did not mention Valerie Plame by name, but said that Wilson's wife worked for "the agency," which, of course, means only one thing in Washington, D.C. Rove testified that Cooper called him regarding a story he was writing about Ambassador Wilson, and Rove was merely trying to set Cooper's facts straight. "Rove went on to say that Wilson had not been sent to Niger by the director of the CIA and, I believe from my subsequent e-mails -- although it's not in my notes -- that Rove added that Dick Cheney didn't send him either. Indeed, the next day the Vice President's chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, told me Cheney had not been responsible for Wilson's mission," said Cooper this week in Time. Apparently, Cooper was ready to write that Wilson had been sent on his mission to Africa by the Vice President's office, something that Rove said wasn't true. Rove told Cooper that Wilson's wife -- who worked for "the agency" -- was responsible for getting him that job. This was akin to naming Plame outright, for everyone knew who Wilson's wife was, just not that she worked for the CIA.

Cooper concludes:

So did Rove leak Plame's name to me, or tell me she was covert? No. Was it through my conversation with Rove that I learned for the first time that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and may have been responsible for sending him? Yes. Did Rove say that she worked at the "agency" on "WMD"? Yes. When he said things would be declassified soon, was that itself impermissible? I don't know. Is any of this a crime? Beats me.

Rove himself has testified in front of the grand jury, saying that he actually learned of Plame's identity from Bob Novak. Now the question is: if Rove didn't tell Novak about Plame, then who did? Judith Miller remains mum on the subject.

Also, this weekend, George W. Bush changed his tune about the leaker. In September of 2003, Bush said that whoever was involved with the leak would "be taken care of." Now, he has changed his standard of firing to say, "If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration." We have gone from the standard of merely being involved to the standard of committing a crime. This, of course, because now we know that if Rove didn't commit a crime, at the very least he was involved in the leak.