Got a Source? Here is what I've found.
The best one is the summary by Kevin Drum on
E. Pluribus Unum
1. MSNBC reports that CIA lawyers are "affirming that the woman's identity was classified."
2. CNN reporter David Ensor reports that his sources at the CIA say Plame is an employee of the operations side of the agency. "This is a person who did run agents," Ensor said.
3. The White House email notifying staffers of the Justice Department investigation characterized it as "an investigation into possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee."
4. Former CIA Director James Woolsey, a neocon and hardly a Bush basher, agrees that this was a serious leak: "You can endanger intelligence and people's lives by revealing the identities of CIA case officers, so it's a serious matter."
5. From William Pitt: "Ray McGovern, who was for 27-years a senior analyst for the CIA, further confirms the status of Plame within the CIA. 'I know Joseph Wilson well enough to know,' said McGovern in a telephone conversation we had today, 'that his wife was in fact a deep cover operative...'"
The
Vanity Fair article is clear.
"Surprisingly, given that Plame was at the center of a Justice Department investigation that could conceivably cause serious damage to the Bush administration, hardly anyone paused to take in the slim 40-year-old with white-blond hair and a big, bright smile. In July the syndicated conservative columnist Robert Novak published an item revealing that Plame was a C.I.A. "operative." The information had been leaked to him by "two senior (Bush) administration officials," who were trying to discredit a report her husband had done for the C.I.A.-the implication being that Wilson got the job only because his wife got it for him. Evidently the "two senior administration officials" did not realize it is a federal crime to knowingly reveal the identity of an undercover C.I.A. agent. As a result, Plame is now the most famous female spy in America-"Jane Bond," as her husband has referred to her. However, even in Washington circles, few people yet know what she looks like. "
Plame's bio is on
Wikipedia.
"Valerie Plame (born 1963) is an employee of the American Central Intelligence Agency who was identified as a CIA "operative" in a newspaper column by Robert Novak on 14 July 2003. This created a political controversy and eventually led to a Justice Department investigation into possible violation of U.S. criminal law regarding exposure of covert government agents. As of July 2005 the investigation is still underway. Plame remains an employee of the CIA."
"Plame's life history has been documented in the January 2004 Vanity Fair article "Double Exposure." But little is known of Plame's professional career. She has described herself as an energy analyst for the private company Brewster Jennings & Associates, which was subsequently acknowledged by the CIA as a front. It has been reported that this cover was not executed very convincingly."
"Plame was identified as a CIA "operative" in Novak's column, which read in part:
'Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction.'
"In a October 1, 2003 Knight Ridder report entitled "Justice Launches Probe Into CIA Leak," an anonymous CIA official was quoted as saying, "If she was not undercover, we would have no reason to file a criminal referral," referring to the referral by the CIA to the Justice Department that a crime may have been committed."
If Plame's identity as a CIA employee was in fact classified, Rove's leak may also have violated other U.S. laws, including the Espionage Act. Failure to protect classified information, criminal or not, is often grounds for the revocation of one's security clearance. Finally, Rove has been interviewed by the FBI and has testified before a grand jury. Misrepresentations to either could be a crime."
Click to expand...
