Time Magazine reporter Matthew Cooper, whose involvement in the Valerie Plame leak investigation drew national attention, spoke about the case during an address Saturday afternoon in ICC Auditorium.

Cooper, the keynote speaker at THE HOYA’s fourth annual Journalism Conference, also explained his decision to testify about his previously confidential discussions about Plame with presidential advisor Karl Rove and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff. Libby recently resigned after being charged with lying and obstructing justice during the course of the investigation.

“It was a difficult decision to say the least,” Cooper said. “I still feel confident that I did the right thing in terms of my own decisions.”

After resigning himself to going to jail for contempt of court along with New York Times reporter Judith Miller, Cooper said he decided to testify after receiving a last-minute waiver of confidentiality from Rove.

The Plame leak investigation began shortly after columnist Robert Novak identified Plame, the wife of former ambassador Joseph Wilson, as a CIA operative in a July 14, 2003, column. Wilson had publicly criticized the Bush administration’s use of pre-Iraq war intelligence information shortly before the column was printed.

Cooper said that the administration made significant efforts to undermine Wilson’s credibility during the period before the column’s publication. Rove told Cooper that Wilson’s wife, as a CIA operative, had sent him to Niger to investigate prewar reports of Iraqi attempts to obtain uranium.

“I suspect neither of us thought [the conversation] would have the implications for us that it did,” Cooper said, adding that Libby later told Cooper that he had also heard that Plame worked for the CIA.

Cooper said that the public focus on the case in recent months would likely make journalists more careful when using anonymous sources, although reporters would continue to receive and use leaked information.

“I hope all journalists will be mindful that the use of confidential sources is a serious thing,” Cooper said. “I think they’re essential. . One just has to be mindful how you use them.”

He also said that increased support in Congress for a federal shield law to prevent courts from forcing journalists to testify about confidential sources would prove the best legacy of the investigation.

“People leak for a lot of different reasons,” Cooper said. “Even what we think of as good leaks often have malevolent motives.”

He added that, despite the extensive media coverage devoted to the investigation in which he played so prominent a role, his life hasn’t changed dramatically since his decision to testify about the leaks.

“I don’t think I quite achieved, you know, Bono-like celebrity,” he said.