[demlosers]

Unaware that Ms. Plame's identity was classified information, Mr. Armitage reportedly passed it along

She was not an undercover CIA agent in the field, or on the CIA's NOC list at the time of public disclosure.

[Eva]

Notice that the writer states, as did Fitzgerald, that her status was "classified", not that her status was "covert". They aren't the same thing, and Fitzgerald and the press knew that very well, when they started this whole thing.