In Courage and Consequence -- which Media Matters for America obtained in advance of its March 9 release date -- Rove writes that shortly after agreeing with Novak that Wilson was “an asshole,” Rove confirmed that he had “heard” that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. Days later, Novak published a syndicated column outing Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative.

From Page 328 of Karl Rove's Courage and Consequence:

But Novak had turned our conversation to Joe Wilson's op-ed after discussing Townsend. He'd met Wilson in the green room at Meet the Press the previous Sunday morning and said he found Wilson pompous, self-centered, egotistical, and “an asshole.” Having watched Wilson on Meet the Press, I agreed with Novak's assessment.