RICHARD ARMITAGE WAS THE ORIGINAL PLAME LEAKER, according to the new book by David Corn and Michael Isikoff.

UPDATE: Tom Maguire, unsurprisingly, has thoughts. And there’s lots of discussion at The Corner, too — just keep scrolling.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A Tom Cruise Plamegate connection?

Meanwhile, Cruise has been busier pushing Scientology than anyone knew. According to a just-declassified State Department schedule, Cruise visited then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on June 13, 2003, just an hour after Armitage had met with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward. (It’s speculated that Armitage outed Valerie Plame as a CIA spy at that meeting.)

Cruise was accompanied by Tom Davis, head of the L.A. Celebrity Center for Scientology, and Kurt Weiland, Scientology’s veep of communications.

What was discussed? “Only Armitage can answer that question, and he’s no longer here,” a State Department spokesman told us. E-mails to Armitage and Cruise’s rep weren’t answered, nor was a call to Scientology headquarters.

Forget 9/11, here’s some real conspiracy-theory material.