[Notwithstanding]

I saw the same interview.
But by all accounts, her employment with the CIA was no secret prior to Novak's mention of it. Novak simply made it common knowledge, rather than personal info known by friends and acquaintances.

[dogbyte12]

There is a difference though between knowing somebody works at the CIA, and the knowledge that they actually are more than an analyst.

I am curious as to when people became aware that she worked at the CIA. When Wilson quit as ambassador to Gabon, I think his last job overseas, is that when Plame stopped undercover work? Is that when people started to know that she worked at Langley?

It is murkey. But I think part of the murkyness is because of the job. She could easily be both in the same career. Spies come in from the cold. An undercover agent in a police department can quit when they are getting too well known on the street, and revert to a uniform or plains clothes homicide. I don't know exactly what Plame did, but I think the analysis is a bit too unsophisticated. It really doesn't have to be either or here.

The answer to the question "Was Valerie Plame a operative or a analyst" is most likely yes. Both.