Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Bob Woodward committed a "deeply serious sin" by not telling his editor at the WaPo that a top Bush administration official had told him the name of a CIA officer, the newspaper's ombudsman said.

Hmmm.  I wonder if Larry King will ask Woodward about this tonight?

Deborah Howell, the ombudsman in question had some pointed other barbs at Woody:

"He has to operate under the rules that govern the rest of the staff - even if he's rich and famous," wrote Deborah Howell in The Post's Sunday editions. She said Woodward made another mistake by publicly commenting on the case on CNN's "Larry King Live" and on National Public Radio without disclosing his knowledge of the CIA leak case.

Howell wrote that Woodward's decision to keep the information from Downie "is a deeply serious sin ... the kind that can get even a very good reporter in the doghouse for a very long time."

And while Woodward is listed as an assistant managing editor, Howell said he has no management duties. "He comes and goes as he pleases, mostly writing his best-selling books on what happens behind the doors of power and he reports only to ... Downie," she wrote. "He is allowed to keep juicy stories to himself until his latest book is unveiled on the front page of The Post. He is a master of the anonymous source."

She said Downie should either work more closely with Woodward or assign him another editor at the paper. "The Post needs to exercise more oversight," she wrote.

Let's see if anything changes, including whether or not Woody acknowledges this.