Once again, the mainstream media arrives at the facts a dollar short and a year late.
The alleged crime at the heart of a controversy that has consumed official Washington – the “outing” of a CIA officer – may not have been a crime at all under federal law, little-noticed details [little noticed by the MSM -ed] in a book by the agent’s husband suggest.
In The Politics of Truth, former ambassador Joseph Wilson writes that he and his future wife both returned from overseas assignments in June 1997. Neither spouse, a reading of the book indicates, was again stationed overseas. They appear to have remained in Washington, D.C., where they married and became parents of twins. (Related story: Bush waits on Rove)
Six years later, in July 2003, the name of the CIA officer – Valerie Plame – was revealed by columnist Robert Novak.
The column’s date is important because the law against unmasking the identities of U.S. spies says a “covert agent” must have been on an overseas assignment “within the last five years.” The assignment also must be long-term, not a short trip or temporary post, two experts on the law say. Wilson’s book makes numerous references to the couple’s life in Washington over the six years up to July 2003.
Direct truth & honesty.
I nominate him as the next PM.
There is a good account of this story in the WSJ Best of the Web today in the section titled “An Innocent Man.”
Also, check the reasoning on SSM a little lower on the page. James Taranto is brilliant.
You didn’t just hit the nail on the head…you drove it through the wall! Great Post.
Lady Spy Plame and the Frog
Will the glamourous Vanity Fair cover girl, Lady Spy Plame, find the mysterious secret hidden in the mists of the foggy swamp? Will she kiss the Fog Frog and turn him into the marvelous prince that he is?
S.M.U.T. > The Lady From S.M.U.T. (Hillaryious’s war ). “Jumped nimbly” … uh, oh… over the candlestick… stic..st..
Hillary Clinton demands GTA smut enquiry
Register – 14 Jul 2005
Senator Hillary Clinton has jumped nimbly on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas rumpy-pumpy outrage bandwagon by demanding an investigation into the game’s torrid sex scenes as unlocked by Dutch modder Patrick Wildenborg. …
cnews.ca
FREE THE KARL ROVE ONE!
Lots of people in blogland commenting on the latest chapter in Rovegate, which today has the New York Times reporting the following: WASHINGTON, July 14 - Karl Rove, the White House senior adviser, spoke with the columnist Robert D. Novak as he …
One would think, unless one was a total dunderhead, that a person writing a book would not lay out in detail for all to read the overseas activities of an actual CIA agent. I do not say that you are wrong, nor do I claim to know the last time that Valerie Plame was on duty, but I will say that it is in fact the height of stupidity to claim Joe Wilson’s little book as your source for what certain covert operatives are or are not doing. You see, the thing about a covert operative is THEY’RE UNDER COVER!!!! Which means that you probably won’t find a record of their work schedule or travel itinerary in the local Barnes & Noble.
For God’s sake, people, use your heads.
Re: Horatio’s comments.
The last time she did anything remotely considered undercover was approximately six years prior to the event in question. The links are fairly easy to find at powerline, instapundit and several others. Chances are by Mon, the Schumers, Reids, et al will be insisting the real importance of the matter was some other issue entirely.
And what is undercover?
The statute does not require an agent to be _stationed_ abroad, merely to be abroad as an agent. Plame had been travelling within the last five years in matters related to her position.
She maintained a cover story as being an ‘energy consultant.’
This is why the CIA initated an investigation into the leak, and why the Justice Department launched one in response” They believe that Plame qualifies under the statute.
Think this through, folks. If you spend a week abroad meeting information sources that are supposed to be secret and kept that way, and you are keeping a cover story yourself, are you not yourself operating covertly? Of course you are.
If you aren’t then everyone you meet is compromised.
Do you actually think that you have to be ‘stationed abroad’ for this to matter?
The links are fairly easy to find at powerline, instapundit and several others.
Oh yeah, I must have forgotten. You’re right. While the CIA’s secret files are not available at your local bookstore, they are easily accessible over the Internet on your friendly neighborhood wingnut blog!!! That CIA is gonna have to come up with something a bit more secure. Maybe if they use the letter just in front of the letter they mean, no one will be able to read their secret missives. You know, that’s a good idea. I’m going to e-mail Porter Goss right now.
Shawn. Why don’t you expand your reading list a little and you’ll realize how ridiculous you sound. I’m not saying you’re completely hopeless (yet), I know it gets a little dizzying being inside the echo chamber. But it’s comments like these and the straws at which some conservatives grab to exonerate “their guy,” no matter if he blew up a bus full of nuns, that causes us liberals to fall back on calling conservatives, and Bush voters in particular, stupid.
I was making reference to news reports (linked in their entirety) on the matter. Happy to provide you with an outlet for your daily vast right-wing conspiracy rant, now just climb back into the warm, soothing sewer that is DU and Kos and pretend your opinion matters to someone.
Well — the CIA thought that a crime had been committed, which is why they referred the whole thing to the Justice Department back in September of 2003.
And the Justice department thought that a crime had been committed, which is why they spent two years investigating it.
And the judge or judges who have looked at the accusations against Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper thought a crime had been committed, which is why they were willing to hold them in contempt and send them to jail unless they testified.
So sorry — it doesn’t really cut the mustard to say NOW that hey, maybe there wasn’t really any crime at all.
“…the judge or judges who have looked at the accusations against Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper thought a crime had been committed, which is why they were willing to hold them in contempt and send them to jail unless they testified.”
No, it isn’t. It means the judge believed that what Miller and Cooper would testify to was relevant relevant in the senses of both rules 401 and 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence in that it would tend to show that what the special prosecutor (the party seeking the subpoena) alleged was true. The underlying question of whether those allegations actually constituted a crime have never litigated because no one has been charged, and until there’s an indictment there’s no one with standing to raise that question in order to quash it.
“…it doesn’t really cut the mustard to say NOW that hey, maybe there wasn’t really any crime at all.”
Of course it does. That’s why people have defense attorneys to (among other things) argue about the meaning and scope of criminal statutes.
Excuse me, the relevance rules are 401 and 403, not 404. The rest of what I said stands.
Ah yes, news reports. Sorry Shawn. I’m afraid that’s strike three. You won’t find CIA travel itineraries in the local bookstore, you won’t find them on the Internet, and you won’t find them in the news either. So how do you find out? You get yourself a job with the goverment, suck up to/carry water for the right people (I think you’d be particulary up to the task in this respect), and get yourself set up with some clearance. The only problem is that now that you know state secrets, you won’t be able to go on “small dead animals” comment threads and talk about them, because that would be illegal and everything.
Horatio
Exactly how stupid are you? The reports I make reference to describe grand jury testimony regarding them matter. I’m sure that doesn’t count in your particular plane of existence, because it appears to exculpate Rove from anything more serious than confirming that he had heard the same rumor Cooper brought up during their conversation. Perhaps provide some kind of reference that provides an alternative viewpoint (preferably with some supporting material, not just wild speculation from Juan Cole or some other lunatic), rather than pretend to have some insider track on the “truth” of the matter. If it is such a simple thing to prove, why aren’t Democrats continuing to rave about it? Are they in on the big, bad conspiracy that only you have proof of as well? Better check and make sure your shots are up to date.