Nafta-gate mystifies still

The thing that mystified me about the leak of the Goolsbee memo was if it was really coming from Ottawa how would it end up with Nedra Pickler, an AP reporter based in Washington.

The just-released official Canadian government report does not answer that question:

"5.3 Unauthorized disclosure of the diplomatic report
The Associated Press had a leaked copy of the diplomatic report on March 2.
However, there are indications that the report, or at least information about the
meeting between Senator Obama’s advisor and the Canadian Consul General,
was known to the media prior to this date, possibly as early as February 28.
The investigation has been unable to determine who leaked the report, to whom
it was leaked or whether there was only one leak.
The original diplomatic report was incorrectly classified and had an
inappropriately broad distribution list."

A reader on Andrew Coyne’s blog suggests that Goolsbee leaked it himself.

The report also suggests that the initial reports about discussions about Nafta with the Clinton campaign were based on some confusion.