Covert or Not?

We all know how much some would like to Get Rove/Libby, but poor Fitzgerald actually has very little to go on.

The law that pertains to “outing” of covert agents is the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Former Assistant Attorney General Victoria Toensing helped draft the law in 1982. She has said, "There is a serious legal question as to whether she [Plame] qualifies as 'covert.'"

For Rove to have broken the law you have to show that he knew Valerie Plame was working undercover for the CIA, and that the CIA was actively trying, and that Karl Rove knew that the CIA was actively trying, to protect the identity of Valerie Plame at that time.

New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof wrote that her covert duties had ended nine years before the Robert Novak column. "The C.I.A. suspected that Aldrich Ames had given [Plame's] name [along with those of other spies] to the Russians before his espionage arrest in 1994," reported Kristof. "So her undercover security was undermined at that time, and she was brought back to Washington for safety reasons."

Link:
Plame covert

[ February 08, 2006, 01:44 AM: Message edited by: NiteShift ]

 

Novak exposed what entire network?

Here is more from Victoria Toensing regarding the drafting of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act:

"The language was specifically designed to distinguish between exposures that came in the course of legitimate journalism and those intending to subvert our intelligence services" she said. "And it was shaped by concerns we heard expressed at the time by the leading newspapers."

 

We could very easily say that Plame put her cover at risk when she donated money to Al Gore's campaign, and listed her employer as Brewster-Jennings and Associates. A very cavalier use of a CIA front company. This was a matter of public record.

Joe Wilson himself identified his wife as "the former Valerie Plame" on his website bio, before publication of his 2003 NY Times article, "What I Didn't Find in Africa".

Link:
Joe Wilson's Bio in 2003

Novak reported what was already in the public record.

 

Since the company she listed was a front company, and not her actual employer, she could be guilty of violating campaign finance laws.... yeah that is a stupid comment, but it is just as honest as trying to set Rove up as a criminal over this mess.

 

Ha, ha, ha! I still remember when liberals were screaming that Karl Rove was the guilty one.

 

Ha, ha, ha! I still remember when liberals were screaming that Karl Rove was the guilty one. </font>[/QUOTE]Yeah they were salivating, and the article is just wishful thinking. Plame was not covert for many years. She was known as the neighborhood spy for years by their neighbors.