Robert Novak, whose syndicated column sparked the CIA leak case and who stormed off a CNN set earlier this year, will join Fox News Channel as a contributor.
Novak, 74, and the network mutually decided not to renew his contract the ends Dec. 31. Fox News Channel confirmed Friday that he would be a contributor to the network beginning in January.
Once one of the most recognizable faces at CNN and one of the few conservative voices there, Novak had fallen out of favor with CNN brass in recent years with his style and the pundit-debate format of shows like "Crossfire" and "The Capital Gang," which he executive produced.
On Capital Gang and Crossfire, CNN used him as a partisan gunslinger, but he and Rowland Evans hosted a great Sunday morning show, EVANS AND NOVAK, that was as thorough and intelligent as the MEET THE PRESS or FOX NEWS SUNDAY. Eventually CNN added liberals Mark Shields and Al Hunt to the lineup and then dropped it completely.
Novak has gained infamy for his role in the Plame ordeal, but more people should read his Washington columns. The Plame thing got out because Novak has some of the best sources in town and has a real good feel on the heartbeat of Washington. He was one of the few to boldly predict that the Republicans would take over both Houses of Congress in 1994 when the Conventional Washington wisdom said that they'd merely make strong gains. His columns are full of the kinds of stories that no one else has. A good example is his latest column in which he explains how Democrats are trying to keep the report on the Clinton era Henry Cisneros scandal sealed.
A recently passed appropriations bill, intended to permit release of this report, was altered behind closed doors to ensure that its politically combustible elements never saw the light of day. But if that happens, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley will still try to force its release. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee with oversight of the IRS, he wants the first real investigation of the tax agency.
That investigation would be a long walk into the unknown, with possibly far-reaching consequences. Prominent Democrats in Congress have spent much of the last decade in a campaign to suppress Barrett's report. Its disclosures could dig deeply into concealed Clinton administration scandals. These vital considerations, not the mere continuation of a $58-an-hour independent counsel position, is why Republican lawyer Barrett for a decade would not close down his prosecutor's office.
If this were just about one politician's illicit love life ruining his political career, Barrett would have ended his operation long ago. But an IRS whistleblower told Barrett of an unprecedented coverup. The informant said a regional IRS official had formulated a new rule enabling him to transfer an investigation of Cisneros to Washington to be buried by the Justice Department. Barrett's investigators found Lee Radek, head of Justice's public integrity office, determined to protect President Bill Clinton.
That triggered intensive efforts to get rid of Barrett and suppress his report by three of the toughest Democrats in Congress: Sen. Carl Levin, Sen. Byron Dorgan and Rep. Henry Waxman. At the same time, the powerhouse Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly -- representing not only Cisneros but also the Clintons -- was filing multiple suits with federal appellate judges supervising the independent counsel.
Don't imagine Brian Williams will be covering this one when Scooter Libby still has portions of his body unburned by cigars stubs.
It will be interesting to see how Fox uses Novak.
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