It appears that Pakistan — not the Bush Administration — outed the Al Qaeda mole [actually, this is not crystal clear -- see CLARIFICATION below]:

Reuters learned from Pakistani intelligence sources on Friday that computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, arrested secretly in July, was working under cover to help the authorities track down al Qaeda militants in Britain and the United States when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers.

The U.S. confirmed the man’s name last Sunday, only after the New York Times already independently had the mole’s name:

Last Sunday, U.S. officials told reporters that someone held secretly by Pakistan was the source of the bulk of the information justifying the alert. The New York Times obtained Khan’s name independently, and U.S. officials confirmed it when it appeared in the paper the next morning.

Was it a mistake to confirm this? It appears it was. But the Bushies don’t appear to have been the first ones to reveal to the press that the guy was under cover. The Pakistanis were.

(Via Ranting Prof.)

CLARIFICATION: Although the “Friday” referred to in the story probably means the Friday after the revelation had hit the papers, the New York Times still had the guy’s name “independently” before the Bush Administration confirmed it. Here’s the point: how would they get it independently, if not from the Pakistanis?

UPDATE: More from Sebastian Holsclaw about how confusing the media reporting on this issue is. I wonder why? Are they trying to cover up their own responsibility in all of this?