Yes she was! No matter how often you repeat this lie, it is still a lie!
How do you know she was covert under the statute? Again, Toensing, who may be political, but who knows the statute said she wasn't. The CIA did not take affirmative steps to hide her identity. In fact, I was reading today that Novak found out who she was in Who's Who as the husband of Joe Wilson.
If a person is covert under the statute, the CIA has to take affirmative steps to hide the identity, including telling people. The CIA did not do that, which means the CIA either broke the law and hung people out to dry, the "leakers" knew and did it anyway, or Plame wasn't really covert under the statute.
I am inclined, based on what I know, to think the latter. The WH, as I see it, didn't really need to discredit Wilson's testimony. The Senate Intelligence Committee and the Blair report from England disagreed with Wilson and apparently cites Wilson's report in support of their position, and in contradiction to Wilson's positiion.
Furthermore, as political as these people may be, they are not given to releasing classified information. I am sure that there are people far more damaging to them then Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame. Why aren't we releasing their names?
Lastly, why is Novak despicable for releasing classified information but the NYT is not? That tells me there is a political thing going on here. Quite frankly, I think neither Novak nor the Times should have released classified information. I think people's lives are in danger when that happens. It's not good when the right does it, and it is not good when the left does it.