US: Conservative columnist Robert Novak dead at 78
Wed Aug 19 03:40:47 EST 2009
WASHINGTON, Aug 18 AFP - Conservative columnist and CNN talk show host Robert Novak died on Tuesday, US media has reported.
He was 78. He unmasked a covert CIA agent, sparking a political and legal firestorm
The Chicago Sun-Times, where Novak worked as a columnist during a media career stretching back more than four decades, said he died at home in Washington after a battle with cancer.
Novak, longtime right-wing co-host of CNN political talk show "Crossfire," announced his retirement from journalism a year ago after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
His retirement was announced just over a week after he was cited by police for running over a pedestrian in Washington and failing to stop his car.
In July 2003 Novak outed Valerie Plame as a CIA operative.
Plame and her husband Joseph Wilson accused president George W. Bush's administration of maliciously leaking her cover to Novak.
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to vice president Dick Cheney, was convicted of lying over the affair.
Novak earned the nickname the "Prince of Darkness" during his years as a fixture on the Washington scene. He wrote a syndicated column, "Inside Report," for 30 years with the late Rowland Evans.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell praised Novak on Tuesday as a "Washington institution."
"He was a Washington institution who could turn an idea into the most discussed story around kitchen tables, Congressional offices, the White House and everywhere in between," he said.
