The identity of the CIA leaker fired for passing classified information to Washington Post writer Dana Priest has been revealed.
The officer flunked a polygraph exam before being fired on Thursday and is now under investigation by the Justice Department, NBC has learned.
Intelligence sources tell NBC News the accused officer, Mary McCarthy, worked in the CIA’s inspector general’s office and had worked for the National Security Council under the Clinton and and George W. Bush administrations.
The leak pertained to stories on the CIA�s rumored secret prisons in Eastern Europe, sources told NBC. The information was allegedly provided to Dana Priest of the Washington Post, who wrote about CIA prisons in November and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for her reporting.
Sources said the CIA believes McCarthy had more than a dozen unauthorized contacts with Priest. Information about subjects other than the prisons may have been leaked as well.
The sleuthing has begun ;
The report of the 9/11 Commission notes that the National Security staff reviewed the intelligence in April 2000 and concluded that the CIA’s assessment of its intelligence on bin Laden and al-Shifa had been valid; the memo to Clinton on this was cosigned by Richard Clarke and Mary McCarthy, the NSC senior director for intelligence programs, who opposed the bombing of al-Shifa in 1998
Ace has pulled up the campaign contributions. No surprises there.
More from WaPo this morning, including the expected self-serving spin defending the actions of the Post.
More, via Drudge: McCarthy was senior director for intelligence programs under Clinton [appointed by the same Sandy Berger caught carrying classified documents out of the National Archives – in his pants.]
This continues to develop, as expected – Was it a sting? I hope so – it might indicate that the powers that be at the Central Intelligence Sieve are finally getting serious about leakers.
Strata_Spnere;
Her actions put people at risk. The duplicity of the media compared to their outcries on the Plame Game is obvious, crude and crass. There is no excuse for this, and to pretend otherwise is to truly be whistling past the grave.
As has been pointed out – a Pulitzer was awarded for this story.
Mark Levin;
Well, as of this morning (Saturday) most of the big media don’t care. They’re fixated with the weather and gas prices � and anything else that will divert the public’s attention from the stunning revelation that a Sandy Berger crony has apparently been leaking top-secret information from her high post at the CIA. The media will continue to downplay this story as they cover-up their own role in exposing our nation’s secrets, including the supposed existence of CIA prisons in Europe. She’ll be called a “whistleblower” and praised as some kind of patriot (a patriot, in the eyes of the media, is anybody who undermines this administration and the war effort by leaking national security secrets to them). They will downplay that McCarthy was a Clintonoid who somehow managed to land a top post at the CIA, ultimately winding up in the CIA’s Inspector General’s Office, from where she could monitor CIA internal investigations of, well, leaks, among other things.
Kate the link to ace is broken – you’ve got a “dot” in there where there shouldn’t be.
Here’s a link to the campaign donations: CIA leaker a big Democratic donor.
-Michael McCullough
Stingray: a blog for salty Christians
In addition to revealing classified information, she should be tried for treason, and if found guilty, should be sentenced to death.
Chris, sorry, but in today’s world, it’s only Leftists and Democracts (same thing these days) that get to talk about putting someone to death–all the Republicans (especially Bush and Cheney). While the Republicans talk about putting to death the people that want to kill both of us–all the Jihadists. Remind you somehow of your relationship with your thirteen-year-old?
When I was in the military, they took secrecy of classified information extremely seriously.
For example, there’s a man named Jonathan Pollard in prison for life for leaking huge amounts of top secret information to a foreign power (a spy for Israel).
As I see it, these cases are similar. Both individuals were in important, sensitive positions, privy to all sorts of important and very sensitive top secret information. Both had taken an oath to not do what they did, which in both cases is serious felony crime.
Logic and justice should indicate that Mary McCarthy should also be vigorously prosecuted, with a view to obtaining a lengthy prison sentence.
Arrogant people who think secrecy laws don’t pertain to them threaten national security and the lives of the American people and our troops in the field. The legal consequences of this criminally irresponsible leaking activity should be severe.
Put her in prison for a long time and when she is there make her work printing republican bumper stickers
If you are truly following a moral path you should be willing to accept the full remifications of your actions….which means she should be willing to accept jail for many years if she felt she was doing the right thing knowing full well it was illegal….
However, it is but another indication there is a civil war of the elite taking place within the US. Not a good thing
Captain Ed of Captain’s Quarters writes about the suggestion that it was a mole hunt. Note that the European Union can’t really find evidence that the prisons existed. It’s an interesting suggestion.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/006809.php
Interesting reactions. Looks like treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Let’s not make it too easy for ourselves: caught between the truth and institutional imperative (loyalty to agency or government,) what should one do? I can hardly wait for the Daniel Ellsberg of the “War on Terror” to let us know what really happened in the Bush Administration. It is invevitable – part of the problem (and beauty) of democratic government is that there are people who think the truth should come out.
And the propriety of political donations seems to depend on whether the recipient is the party of one’s choice. Is there no other dirt to dig up on McCarthy?
Agitfact – I swear to God, if this were April of 1944 and the Washington Post had published “Pulitzer winning” plans for D-Day, you’d be here defending their actions.
Treason, by the way, is not defined by the “eye of the beholder”. It is a matter of law.
Selective Leaking
Tom Joscelyn brilliantly lays out a prior instance in which CIA agent Mary McCarthy, the leaker just fired from the CIA, entered the public record: her involvement in the bombing of al-Shifa, one of the targets in Sudan that the Clinton adminstration attacked in 1998.
As Joscelyn relates, McCarthy initially opposed the bombing of al-Shiva because she wasn’t convinced that the intelligence linking Iraq, al Qaeda and the production of nerve gas at that location was solid. She later changed her mind, as the Sept. 11 Commission related, and joined in the assessment by Richard Clarke and others that nerve gas was being produced at al-Shifa under an agreement between Saddam’s Iraq, which supplied the technical expertise, and al Qaeda. Joscelyn summarizes:
Now, of course, Clarke and Benjamin argue that: (a) the decision to strike al-Shifa was justified because (b) the intelligence connecting Iraqi chemical weapons experts to al Qaeda’s chemical weapons efforts was sound, but (c) this doesn’t mean that Iraq and al Qaeda had a significant relationship because (d) somehow this collaboration occurred without either party realizing that it was working with the other! Sound bizarre? It is.
In the lionization of Ms. McCarthy that is sure to come over the coming months, it will be interesting to see whether the Washington Post or any other news outlet mentions her involvement in the al-Shifa controversy.
Posted by John at 11:33 AM | Permalink
powerlineblog.com
http://thomasjoscelyn.blogspot.com/2006/04/leaker-al-shifa.html
Kate, you’d be taking the name of the Lord in vain. I would applaud publication of the D-Day plans only if these had been designed to mislead the voting public, had misled the voting public, or proved that the voting public had been misled by the government(s).
By your definition of treason as a matter of law, the conspirators who got shot or hanged for trying to remove Hitler in July 1944 fully deserved their fate. In some eyes (incl. mine)they were heroes.
Agitfact you may find it hard to imagine, BUT Pres. Bush is no Hilter. McCarthy is a traitor. Send her to jail.
Don’t worry, she’ll be pardoned by the next Democratic pres. She will write a book, make a million and be a host of her own show on CNN.
Only in America.
Saddam’s Baathists & Saddam’s Palestinian allies rounded up & driven out of Baghdad by the Iraqis.
A national Iraqi government is in place.
Long live free Iraq. +
All 35,000 Palestinians Expelled from Baghdad, In Drive to Evict Sunnis (debka)
Debkafile Global Security Newsletter ^ | April 21, 2006, 6:10 PM (GMT+02:00) | Gioria Shamis & Diane Shalem
Posted on 04/22/2006 10:11:45 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
DEBKAfile Exclusive: All 35,000 Palestinians expelled from Baghdad, In Drive to Evict Sunnis +
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1619558/posts
Mary McCarthy and Joe Wilson served on the National Security Council at the same time…and both with Africa portfolios?! Mary McCarthy was appointed by Sandy Berger, who was recently convicted of stealing classified documents from the archives. Oh, my, we may have one of the biggest stories yet! Mary McCarthy, confidante of Sy Hersch, contributor to the Kerry campaign…..recipient of a Pulitzer perhaps based on a misinformation campaign….I really must read more Tom Clancy becuase this stuff you just can’t make up!
Curious, but there are several government translators who leak information to various foreign governments.
The part that surprises me is that these people are kept on in the jobs they do.
There are complex reasons for doing so and I will not go into it here, but this is only one of many areas where security can be upgraded. TG
Oh, and do not forget how teflon Paul had 6000 six thousand civil servants sworn to a life term of secrecy. That is a crime!
Twenty years is plenty of time by which we citizens should be aware of what is going on in our own government.
By that time stretch, there is usually no way the info remains sensitive. Special exceptions can be made, however. But not if the aim is to keep the crimes of the Liberal Party a secret. TG
Robert Mein, I do not recall comparing Bush to Hitler. I used the 1944 conspiracy as a clear example of someone’s legal treason being someone else’s act of virtue. Maybe I should have stuck to Ellsberg.
Darn that moral relativism, but there are few absolutes in life. And the partisan utility (or disutility) impugned here to Mary McCarthy’s treason isn’t one of them.
agitfact: Your point might have been valid if Mary McCarthy had, out of righteous concern, leaked the information to a government official rather than someone from the media. Certainly not all government officials are complicit…it would have made sense for her to approach the Democrats, not the media. I say treason.
Hassle, beyond what’s been published, we do not know just what she did and why she did it. Leaking to the Democrats would have made the issue strictly partisan. Passing information up the chain of command in a government at war could have been problematical and ineffective: how do you know who is complicit or not, and whether the top will do more than merely silence you?
In a democracy and assuming a free press,the indirect approach via the media might produce the most direct results. I would not blame McCarthy for going that route if she felt that a substantial abuse was taking place and had to be stopped.
Mary “The Democratic Mole” is also a “Kerryoid Mole”, John Kerry, that is. +
Fired CIA Leaker Gave To Kerry And The DNC
Posted by Sam Hill
On 04/22/2006 12:23:06 PM PDT � 16 replies � 343+ views
Sweetness & Light ^ | April 22, 2006 | N/A
Behold Mary O. McCarthy�s political contributions for the last few years: MCCARTHY, MARYBETHESDA, MD 20817U.S. GOVERNMENT/CIVAL SERVANT ANDREASEN, STEVEN PETERVIA ANDREASEN FOR CONGRESS 11/01/2002 200.00 22992926088 MCCARTHY, MARYBETHESDA, MD 20817US GOVERNMENT/ANALYST DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE 10/29/2004 500.00 24981642504 MCCARTHY, MARY OBETHESDA, MD 20817CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIO OHIO DEMOCRATIC PARTY 10/05/2004 5000.00 24962561560 MCCARTHY, MARY OBETHESDA, MD 20817U.S. GOVERNMENT/ANALYST KERRY, JOHN FVIA JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC 03/14/2004 2000.00 25971246238 I guess it comes as no suprise, given Ms. McCarthy was hired by Sandy Berger to serve in the Clinton administration. +
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1619620/posts
At a girl Mary. Expose these fools of an adminstration for what they really are. If there are any left after all the disertions that is. As for Mark Levin and his “war effort”. Exactly what war are we talking about? I’m not aware of any war, are you? I’m aware of one occupation though. The paranoia and xenophobia continues to reach new heights.
Anderson, Study:
http://www.ReligionOfPeace.com/
Then prove there is not a war underway. TG
agitfact, I was pointing out that in the case of Hitler it was right to commit an act of treason. In the case of Bush it is not. He is no Hitler.
For some it is hard to imagine that they are not the same when they are willing to rationalize an illegal act because it suites their political views. (Although I take your point that you did not make the direct comparison -my apologies)
This is the nature of ideologues on all sides. The other guy is the devil incarnate and all the good guys are paragons of virtue. So any act to bring down the bad guy is “virtuous” because the bad guys are bad.
The problem for your argument is that George Bush is not a tyrant, despot or a dictator. He was elected, supported by the Congress and by the popular will of the people; if he is evil, wrong, and or incompetent the democratically elected Congress and the Supreme Court of the USA will deal with him.
A politically appointed CIA staffer is not needed to break the law to suit what appears to be her political agenda.
Dana Priest�s Husband Gets Joe Wilson Media Gigs
Sweetness & Light ^ | April 22, 2006 | N/A
Posted on 04/22/2006 3:22:34 PM PDT by Sam Hill
Pulitzer Prize winning Dana Priest is married to William Goodfellow. William Goodfellow is the Executive Director of the the Center for International Policy (CIP).
Here is what Discover The Networks has to say about the Center For International Policy.
America�s Red Army
One of the most sophisticated of Fenton�s anti-war projects is the co-mingling of Win Without War and the Center for International Policy (CIP).
Before 9/11, CIP, a Fenton Communications client, mainly acted as Fidel Castro�s greatest �think tank� ally. Much of its million-dollar budget was spent lobbying to end economic sanctions and travel restrictions against Cuba.
Now, it has another mission. Fenton has established a �war room� with CIP called The Iraq Policy Information Program (IPIP). Its main job is getting the anti-Bush foreign policy message out to the media and providing guests for talk shows. A featured speaker of the IPIP is former ambassador Joe Wilson, one of the Bush administration�s most vocal enemies.
Like Moveon.org and Win Without War, the contact for the Iraq Policy Information Program is Fenton Communications. Win Without War also collects tax-deductible donations through CIP.
So Dana Priest’s husband runs an operation that gets Joe Wilson speaking gigs. +
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1619683/posts
If you don’t know about this site . Please visit it . Its a gem. Its an audio site with one guy’s opinion. Trust me , he has all the witty barbs that so endure you too the English lol.
Man oh man. This guy sure likes to kick you, in the butt. He tells it as he see’s it. I almost fell off my chair listening to Him. Even if you disagree with the guy, which I do in certain items. You gotta give em points for being so balsy.The humor is worth it alone. I expect most probably know about it, on an informed site like this.
http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbradio.asp
Robert M., you point out that “The problem for your argument is that George Bush is not a tyrant, despot or a dictator.” Well, let me refer to a less extreme and more relevant example, Daniel Ellsberg.
You can refresh your memory with a quick and dirty review of Ellsberg’s treason at >.
There was no “tyrant, despot or … dictator” involved, merely three duly-elected administrations (Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon)who misled the people and legislators of the USA about a war for what they considered to be good political reasons. It was Ellsberg’s “treason” that moved documented facts from the archives to the media and exposed the mendacity of government. But he did approach the Senate first, and it never got to a proper treason trial.
Is it possible that Mary McCarthy tried to do something similar with her media leak? With what is known so far, we cannot discard that possibility – unless we wrap ourselves in ideology and make it simple. She embarassed a Republican administration, so she is a traitor to neocons and a patriot to liberals. We’ll see.
Sorry, the Ellsberg reference got deleted: http://daniel-ellsberg.search.ipupdater.com/
Mary had a little…. catapult…well, a “rapid advancement”. (Will not comment on how Willy did “business”.) +
All about Mary McCarthy 2
In From the Cold has some opinions on Mary McCarthy’s career. The key paragraph:
Equally interesting is her meteoric rise within the intelligence community. According to her bio, she joined the CIA as an analyst in 1984. Within seven years, she had rise to a Deputy NIO position, and reached full NIO status by 1994. To reach that level, she literally catapulted over dozens of more senior officers–and I’m guessing that her political connections didn’t hurt. By comparison, I know a current NIO, with a resume and academic credentials more impressive than Ms. McCarthy’s, who reached the position after more than 20 years of extraordinarily distinguished service. McCarthy’s rapid advancement speaks volumes about how the Clinton Administration did business, and sheds new light on the intelligence failures that set the stage for 9-11. We can only wonder how many other political hacks climbed the intel food chain under Clinton–and remain in place to this day. + more
http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/
Just a bit more from wretchard: +
LOL Department
From the National Review:
If you want a good sense of where the media’s mind is in the wake of the Mary McCarthy story, check this out. . It’s an AP story about McCarthy’s firing. Guess whose picture is at the top? Not McCarthy. Not Dana Priest. Not anybody involved in the story at all, actually. It’s a picture of Scooter Libby — who’s not even mentioned in the article. I won’t be surprised if they end up fixing it soon. But it’s there now.
It was there when I checked. But then, maybe the stories are related in some way. +
http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/
Scooter pic here:
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13261.3
Almost 2300 posts on the topic at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1619050/posts
The links McCarthy has to all the anti-Bush forces are quite fascinating. How is it possible that one individual has verifiable links to Kerry (she was a campaign contributor), Heinz foundation (her husband, Goodfellow, runs a radical socialist think tank which rcvs. funding from Kerry’s wife)), Richard Clarke, Joe Wilson (she served on the Africa desk when Wilson was also), Sandy Berger (charged with stealing Top Secret docs, he hired McCarthy), and many others?
This is the biggest story of the decade in my humble opinion. Does anyone else think that this appears to be a well-orchestrated, organized cabal of coup plotters within the highest levels of the US government?
P.S. Stay tuned because one maybe two US Senators are slated to take polygraphs in the next couple of weeks….(Rockefeller? Durbin?)
Damn, I need a flowchart!
agitfact,
The voices in your head are not talking sense. When you reveal state secrets – you are not a patriot (it doesn’t matter what political side your on) you are a traitor.
For a more Canadian example – if someone from CSIS revealed state secrets to anyone not authorized … doesn’t matter who they wanted to “embarrass” … Libs or Conservative … it is treason.
I don’t know who has the ultimate say here in Canada (probably the PM) what is classified as what. I haven’t seen any leader in Canada (I do mean any) declassifying stuff for party gains … can’t think of any US President either. Why would any employee think that they have that right after signing documents specifically saying they wouldn’t?
BTW: The moonbat hat looks good on you.
Another angle on the story: European investigators have closed the investigation into the secret prisons allegations. Cite lack of evidence.
So, Dana Priest rcvs. a Pulitzer for the secret prison story, yet noone can verify that the prisons actually exist.
I’m confused. Did the CIA send this information out as misinformation to find a leaker?
Why is it that when I tune into US news, all the top stories and endless discussion is about the Duke rape case? What would I do without the internet?!
CIA Leak, Mary
McCarthy Link Roundup
Ural, to my knowledge, we haven’t had this problem in Canada, perhaps because our international engagements have been less controversial, hence have required less deception. Perhaps our domestic politics so far have been less of a blood sport (but keep up the good work.)
I am glad that you cannot conceive of actions by the state that might require appeal to another authority, such as morality or conscience, and actions that formally might be illegal but quite proper. That should make you a good socialist, but you’ll have to do something about that wingnut screech.
The Secret War Against President Bush
It’s a war against Bush, waged by Americans.It’s wrong, it’s illegal and people are going to start going to jail. That’s good.
nealenews.com
…
What is really going on here is the secret war by CIA-types against President Bush and his policies. This is the group inside the CIA � think Valerie Plame � who think their opinions and analysis of the world should trump whatever it is the president thinks. If the president goes against their opinion, they call The New York Times and start leaking embarrassing stuff.
It’s a war against Bush, waged by Americans.
It’s wrong, it’s illegal and people are going to start going to jail. That’s good.
Next up? Whoever was leaking to James Risen of The New York Times.
His story about the secret NSA wiretapping program probably did damage to national security, because it may have tipped off Al Qaeda that we could listen to their cell phone conversations to people inside this country.
Now that the secret prisons leaker is out of the way, the counter-leaking team over at the CIA can concentrate on Risen’s leaker. With any luck, we will soon hear the sound of the jail house door slamming… again. +
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192673,00.html
kate and agitfact:
here troll troll troll…
Hear hear, Ural.