From Michael Calderone:

At 6:46 a.m., The Journal published a news story that essentially reiterated what Mr. Gigot discovered in his exclusive interview, with the byline, “Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter.”

It wasn’t until the next hour that The Journal’s White House correspondent John D. McKinnon filed a news story. (Now, that piece includes a video interview with Mr. Gigot discussing his scoop).

So where was the Washington bureau on this story?

We don’t talk about our internal news decisions,” said David Wessel, the Journal’s deputy Washington bureau chief.

He added: “As you know, the editorial page and the news department are separate.”

Of course, the Chinese Wall between editorial and news is a vital part of The Journal’s legacy.

But does that preclude Mr. Gigot from informing the news side of a huge breaking story, which he learned two days earlier?

Mr. Wessel declined to answer whether he was aware of Mr. Rove’s resignation before today.

One Journal staffer tells Calderone that Gigot may have wanted to “show off the editorial page’s Washington clout to his future boss, Rupert Murdoch.”

Peter Baker says that it’s “not entirely surprising.”