Globe Misses Key Story

The Globe underplayed a key story that broke yesterday in Washington. The paper today had only the following brief description:

“Washington -- Attorney-General John Ashcroft has removed himself from an investigation into who gave the name of a CIA officer to a newspaper columnist and has turned over the inquiry to a special counsel, the Justice Department said yesterday. Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, has been appointed special counsel to head the investigation and will be given authority to take the inquiry wherever it leads. The move suggests the controversy will not go away soon and that the inquiry could cause embarrassment for some. AP”

In fact this is a key development in an ongoing story with the potential to deeply embarrass President Bush. Its significance is well described on Joshua Micah Marshall’s blog talkingpointsmemo.com in this post.

Some day this will likely produce headlines in the Globe. Today it merited only a little box in a round up column.