There is a document - maybe several versions of it - that if disclosed to the public would shed much light on the genesis of the Patrick Fitzgerald investigation of the Plame non-leak. We know, or think we know, much about Joe Wilson and his "mission" to Niger, the leak of Valerie Plame's employment apparently by then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and the fact that the Justice Department knew of Armitage's responsibility for the leak before Fitzgerald was even appointed. But we yet don't know:

• How Joe Wilson, contrary to decades of CIA policy, was sent to Niger without a security agreement requiring him to remain silent about the mission and what he found during its course;

• Why the CIA never required a written report from Wilson;

• Who - within the CIA and the State Department - crafted the mission, chose Wilson (Plame, a low-level analyst, lacked the clout to do more than recommend) and enabled him to blab about his "findings" when he got back; and

• Why did the Justice Department apparently reject the CIA's request for investigation at least twice, and why did George Tenet reportedly call to demand the investigation, and what was the basis for his demand?

Some or all of this - clearly the last point - must be contained in the demand for an investigation. Called a "criminal referral," it's the memorandum any agency can send to Justice to demand an investigation. The Plame/Wilson investigation was launched by such a referral, one that was classified at least at the "secret" level by CIA. It has never been disclosed.

The Justice Department should disclose this document forthwith. Whatever "classified" data in it will almost certainly have - long since - lost their value as secrets. Any that remain valuable can be redacted. The public should know what the basis for the investigation demand was, and why the CIA was so adamant about it. And there's one other thing.

If there are intentional misstatements in that memo, whomever signed it may be guilty of a criminal act. Maybe this is something Fitzgerald could more profitably spend his time on. No, actually, a regular US attorney should be tasked to do it. No more special prosecutors. Enough is enough.