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Yes, Valerie Plame Was Covert
Political Animal via CBS News ^ | May 29, 2007 | Kevin Drum

Posted on 05/30/2007 12:35:06 PM PDT by Sleeping Beauty

In a court filing today, Patrick Fitzgerald provides a summary of Valerie Plame Wilson's status with the CIA's Counterproliferation Division at the time she was outed to the press by members of the Bush administration. Guess what? She was covert:

While assigned to CPD, Ms. Wilson engaged in temporary duty (TDY) travel overseas on official business. She traveled at least seven times to more than ten countries. When traveling overseas, Ms. Wilson always traveled under a cover identity — sometimes in true name and sometimes in alias — but always using cover — whether official or non-official cover (NOC) — with no ostensible relationship to the CIA.

At the time of the initial unauthorized disclosure in the media of Ms. Wilson's employment relationship with the CIA on 14 July 2003, Ms. Wilson was a covert employee for whom the CIA was taking affirmative measures to conceal her intelligence relationship to the United States.

...she had been working under cover outside the U.S. quite extensively during the previous five years, which means that Plame almost certainly qualified as "covert" under the specific definitions outlined in IIPA. Nonetheless, for some reason Fitzgerald decided not to bring outing charges against anyone. This suggests that Mark Kleiman has been right all along: Fitzgerald's decision had nothing to do with technical aspects of IIPA, but rather with its scienter requirements.

That is, the leakers had to know that leaking Plame's name could be damaging, and Fitzgerald didn't think he had the evidence to make that case. That might have been especially true since the leaks seem to have been authorized at very high levels, something the leakers could have used in their defense at trial.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cia; cialeak; plame; plamegame; plamegate; valerieplame
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To: Sleeping Beauty
Does this change anything?

No. This description could cover most of the people who work at Langley, it just means they do classified work and get a cover story so when they go to conferences and meetings they dont' have to pass out business cards that say "CIA." But this isn't the same thing as the statutory definition which is supposed to protect the real spies.

41 posted on 05/30/2007 1:01:18 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Just mythoughts

Except maybe her husband was her cover for a trip to Niger.

I still blame it all on Mr. Wilson and whomever put forth all of the now-seemingly false intel for the 8 years prior to the war/invasion. Wag the Dog intel.


42 posted on 05/30/2007 1:03:01 PM PDT by petitfour
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To: Sleeping Beauty

CIA outed her over the phone to Novak. If the CIA gives you up over the phone to a reporter, trust me, you aren’t covert.

In any case, the guy who leaked her name (Armitage) admitted his mistake the first day of the investigation. That means that, for the “investigator” in this case there was no mystery, he knew from the first day who was the guilty party. He specifically asked Armitage not to reveal his role, however, until after he finished investigating... what, you might ask?

Which means that for the life of the investigation, the only ones who didn’t know the answer were you, me, and the hapless jury in the Libby case. Only after Libby was convicted was Armitage allowed to reveal that he was, in fact, the guilty party. And that the prosecutor had known it all along.

Neither Armitage nor Novak were ever charged in exposing her name, because if CIA will give you up over the phone, as I say, you aren’t covert.

What she was, was a covert DNC operative. For exposing that, there is no forgiveness.


43 posted on 05/30/2007 1:03:13 PM PDT by marron
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To: Sleeping Beauty

If it does then Richard Armitage should worry. But in fact it doesn’t change anything, because the Libby trial was never about Plame or her status.


44 posted on 05/30/2007 1:08:36 PM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: Sleeping Beauty

Had to know that she was covered and overtly try to do damage.
Changes nada.


45 posted on 05/30/2007 1:12:20 PM PDT by Gideon Reader (DEMOCRATS: Not quite American, and proud of it! Palestinians are,...well,... Palestinian.)
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To: Sonora
I sure would like to know what she did under cover.

Her hubby said she gave it all up about her cover
under the covers by the second date.


46 posted on 05/30/2007 1:13:50 PM PDT by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: Sleeping Beauty

No. She was primarily employed at a desk job at Langley, traipsing in and out of there for all to see. That is absolutely not consistent with an operative whose relationship to the CIA is being concealed. She was presumed outed by Aldrich Ames in the mid-1990s, and recalled from covert service overseas at that time. Now we’re supposed to believe that the CIA had her travelling under her real name less than 10 years later, while trying to conceal her CIA affiliation? Gimme a break. Just because they had her saying she was something other than a CIA agent doesn’t mean she was “covert” — it means it’s impractical and imprudent to have any CIA employee running around foreign countries saying “I work for the CIA” to anybody who asks. Even a totally non-covert CIA employee would be a target for kidnapping for info and/or for ransom (it’s not like non-covert CIA analysts don’t have top secret security clearance and access to a lot of classified info).


47 posted on 05/30/2007 1:17:20 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: Sleeping Beauty

No, CBS is still a lying anti-American front group for the left.


48 posted on 05/30/2007 1:22:25 PM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: Sleeping Beauty

“she had been working under cover outside the U.S. quite extensively during the previous five years, which means that Plame almost certainly qualified as ‘covert...’”

This is bull crap. Yeah, she did this while pregnant with twins who were born during this time. She also suffered from post-partum depression, according to the WPost’s communist reporter Walter Pincus in his puff piece that July.

If the CIA was using her for what a normal person would consider “CIA covert op-s” then they were incredibly stupid. She was attending conferences.

Also note the weasel words “almost certainly.”


49 posted on 05/30/2007 1:23:39 PM PDT by Gothmog (Valerie Plame is guilty of treason)
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To: Sleeping Beauty
Fitzgerald never tried to prove this in court--but thinks Libby's prison term should reflect this crime he was never convicted of.

Of course Libby doesn't show remorse for something he's not guilty of.

Hannity & Colmes the night before last had a guest, Dennis Fritz, who was convicted of a murder he didn't commit by an out-of-control prosecutor (and finally proved his innocence after 10 or 11 years in prison). I'm sure he never expressed remorse for the murder.

50 posted on 05/30/2007 1:25:53 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Diogenesis

Hmmmmmm...she was screwing the enemy - can covert female agents do that? I wonder who on the other side would be fooled by this woman?

Th Wilson family is depictable.


51 posted on 05/30/2007 1:28:50 PM PDT by Sonora
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To: Sonora

I think you are confusing Wilson’s second and third wives.

Check out with the French embassy where his second is.


52 posted on 05/30/2007 1:37:49 PM PDT by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: Sleeping Beauty

Maxwell Smart! Front and center!


53 posted on 05/30/2007 1:41:01 PM PDT by Waco
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To: Diogenesis

Thanks - I’m completely lost - just wondering about the woman involved - a covert hooker it looks like to me. There should be no jaid time for outing a hooker or even lying about outing a hooker.


54 posted on 05/30/2007 1:44:00 PM PDT by Sonora
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To: longtermmemmory; All
Look at this that was linked on DRUDGE!

Ex-CIA officer called on to explain varied accounts Senator: Plame's versions add to 'misinformation'

55 posted on 05/30/2007 1:45:01 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Sleeping Beauty

So the Kinko’s FAX said she was covert.


56 posted on 05/30/2007 1:46:49 PM PDT by rod1 (uake)
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To: Puppage
I wonder whom met with. Did she go to an US embassies abroad? I find it ludicrous to believe that she was covert sometimes using her own name.

While assigned to CPD, Ms. Wilson engaged in temporary duty (TDY) travel overseas on official business. She traveled at least seven times to more than ten countries. When traveling overseas, Ms. Wilson always traveled under a cover identity — sometimes in true name and sometimes in alias — but always using cover — whether official or non-official cover (NOC) — with no ostensible relationship to the CIA.

She was then travelling as a USG official. Very rarely do CIA personnel don't travel abroad with an "ostensible relationship to the CIA." More than likely, her relationship to the CIA could be devined once she got into a particular country. I bet that some declared CIA personnel probably set up and attended with her meetings with host government officials who more than likely knew she was connected to the Agency. And certainly, most of the US personnel knew who she worked for. This sounds like pure spin. sh

57 posted on 05/30/2007 1:50:42 PM PDT by kabar
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To: Sleeping Beauty

Is this news?


58 posted on 05/30/2007 1:54:06 PM PDT by TBP
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To: TheDon

You’re supposed to say: “NO $#!* SHERLOCK!!!!”
:)


59 posted on 05/30/2007 2:03:53 PM PDT by lowbridge ("The mainstream media IS the Democratic Party." - Rush Limbaugh)
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To: Sleeping Beauty

Yes, this changes everything. Her slimy husband should be arrested immediately, since he’s the one who outed her in the first place.


60 posted on 05/30/2007 2:16:43 PM PDT by MizSterious (Anonymous sources often means "the voices in my head told me.")
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