For the record, Valerie Plame's political donation and listing Brewster Jennings as her employer was information in the WaPo in 2003, at the start, and posted here on FR.
The Washington Post seemed to think this proved she was covert. Others (like me) thought it showed she was a partisan hack with none too much concern about any ostensible cover she was supposed to have (ergo it demonstrated the exact opposite of what the sages at the WaPo concluded).
If Mrs W was officially working for Brewster Jennings and reporting for work at CIA headquarters every day; no body had to "out" her.