I believe you are correct about that.
The model is have for this is sort of like the IRS scandal:
After it first broke, the gummint folks all said, “Come on..! You know the guv is totally incompetent..! Do you REALLY think they could orchestrate all these politically motivated audits WITHOUT word leaking out and causing a HUGE scandal…?!?!!” >_<
Now, you and I do know they’re incompetent, sure.
But gummint folks think we PEASANTS are the idiots who walk around with a warm wet spot on our trousers all day, and that we can’t tie our shoes —they think THEY are the geniuses.
When a gummint person TELLS you to consider them as TOTAL IDIOTS you can be very, very sure that there is a very desperate attempt to hide something EXTREMELY bad.
Another little-known point that I’m not sure you’ll believe:
The CIA chief-of-station posting is made IN OPEN COLLABORATION WITH THE HOST COUNTRY.
Yeah, they ALREADY KNOW who he or she is. And why shouldn’t they? That guy will probably never leave the Embassy, anyway. FIELD AGENTS really do the important work.
Did the Regime really give up that much via this “slip up”…? No.
This was NOT a mistake and they didn’t give up as much as people are thinking.