WASHINGTON – Robert Novak, a conservative political columnist known as the “Prince of Darkness” and who unleashed a political firestorm by publishing the name of an undercover CIA operative, died on Tuesday. He was 78.
Novak stopped writing his column in July 2008 after 45 years when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. His most famous column, in July 2003, named as a CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose husband, Joseph Wilson, a former US ambassador, had publicly criticised the Iraq war.
An investigation into the leak later resulted in the conviction of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a top aide to then vice-president Dick Cheney, for lying and obstruction.
Novak’s column was one of the longest-running in the United States and was run by about 300 newspapers across the country according to his home paper, the Chicago Sun-Times. He developed a second career as a commentator on CNN and Fox News.
He revelled in the nickname “Prince of Darkness”, which referred partly to his severe looks and partly to what another reporter called his “dim view of the prospects for our civilisation”. – (Reuters)