In an interview on CNN's Larry King Live (that old pit bull!), Bob Woodward said he saw no evidence of a government conspiracy to discredit former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson by outing his wife as a CIA operative.

An excerpt:

A special prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, has been investigating whether the administration was engaging in a conspiracy in 2003 when officials revealed to at least a half-dozen reporters on separate occasions that Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie, was a C.I.A. operative. A grand jury has indicted I. Lewis Libby Jr., former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, on charges of perjury but not conspiracy.

"Was there some sort of conspiracy, or organized effort, or effort by one person to out, to disclose publicly that Joe Wilson's wife was an undercover operative?" Mr. Woodward said, according to a transcript of his taped appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live." "I haven't yet seen evidence of that."

Mr. Woodward was among the reporters to whom officials gave information about Ms. Wilson, a fact that he concealed from his paper until last month. He gave sworn testimony to Mr. Fitzgerald but said his source had not allowed him to divulge his name publicly.

"I am protecting not a person but a relationship in the information I get for my newspaper and books," Mr. Woodward told Mr. King.