Wouldn't Plame have to be specifically declassified to be legal to talk...

[FormerRepublican]

...about?

The big 'puke talking point is that while Rove said Wilson's wife worked for CIA and was responsible for getting him sent to Niger, he didn't disclose any secret information.

Well, isn't the collecting of information for the benefit of the US SPYING? Didn't Wilson collect information on Niger and Iraq in behalf of the United States to determine if Niger had sold Uranium to Iraq? Does the CIA routinely disclose who sends people to collect information in foreign countries? Even if Plame were no longer covert, wouldn't she have to be SPECIFICALLY DECLASSIFIED to allow anyone to talk about her or ANYTHING that she did (including recommending her husband for a trip to Niger) without legal ramifications?

Considering the fact that the CIA doesn't even disclose how many employees it has or it's budget (it's classified), I somehow doubt that information about WHO suggested the person the CIA sent to collect information on a foreign government is unclassified.

To quote:

"Sec. 1.4. Classification Categories. Information shall not be considered for classification unless it concerns:

(d) foreign relations or foreign activities of the United States, including confidential sources; "

And...

"(h) Prior to public release, all declassified records shall be appropriately marked to reflect their declassification."

And...

"(b) An agency head may exempt from automatic declassification under paragraph (a) of this section specific information, the release of which could be expected to:

(1) reveal the identity of a confidential human source, or a human intelligence source, or reveal information about the application of an intelligence source or method;
(2) reveal information that would assist in the development or use of weapons of mass destruction;
(3) reveal information that would impair U.S. cryptologic systems or activities;
(4) reveal information that would impair the application of state of the art technology within a U.S. weapon system;
(5) reveal actual U.S. military war plans that remain in effect;
(6) reveal information, including foreign government information, that would seriously and demonstrably impair relations between the United States and a foreign government, or seriously and demonstrably undermine ongoing diplomatic activities of the United States;
(7) reveal information that would clearly and demonstrably impair the current ability of United States Government officials to protect the President, Vice President, and other protectees for whom protection services, in the interest of the national security, are authorized;
(8) reveal information that would seriously and demonstrably impair current national security emergency preparedness plans or reveal current vulnerabilities of systems, installations, infrastructures, or projects relating to the national security; or
(9) violate a statute, treaty, or international agreement."

http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html

We need to demand specific government documents showing that this information was declassified prior to Rove's disclosure. As far as I'm aware, the first public disclosure of the information was when the Senate Intelligence Committee released it's REDACTED report on the matter in 2004.

We need to pound the fact that CIA Agents and others who collect foreign information for the CIA are NOT automatically declassified after a specific period of time, nor is the means in which these individuals are selected.

I think what Rove did disclose was classified, and if he had any kind of clearance at all, he would have received training to know just that.

[Kilroy003]

1. It sure looks like it.

Granted, I'm no lawyer.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Bottom line is this:

Even if Rove didn't know she was classified, he had sufficient access to the information. He should have known, and if he wasn't sure, he should have checked. Period. Ignorance is not a viable defense.

[FormerRepublican]

4. I think that's my point...

If Rove had a clearance, he got training on how to protect classified information.

Not only was Valerie Plame herself classified, but I suspect the fact that she recommended Wilson for the trip to Niger would also have been classified. That's part of the point I was making.

If Rove had access to classified info, his training should have covered disclosure of stuff like Plame recommending Wilson for a trip to Niger to collect intel. All Fitzgerald has to do is get records that Rove was trained on classified info, and an outline on what's covered in training. He should know that telling the Press ANYTHING that smacked of being classified was a big no no. In general, people are told 'to be safe, assume it's classified.'

How could he fall back on 'knowingly' as a defense?

[Dhalgren]

3. Excellent points! Hadn't thought of that aspect.

At the time that Rove spoke to Cooper, he wasn't even an official member of the government - he was just Bush's "Political Adviser", and the last I heard that was not a government position...

[FormerRepublican]

5. I found a critical quote on Rove's role at the WH...

...during the time frame:

"George W. Bush was inaugurated in January 2001. Rove accepted a position in the Bush administration as Senior Advisor to the President."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove

It sounds like an official government position. If he was paid by the taxpayers - natch, he's a government official.

[Dhalgren]

6. You're right. That does sound like a more "real" position.

I guess I was going by how his position was usually described in the press and elsewhere, as "political adviser". But if he had an official position as "Senior Advisor to the President", then I think you are correct in assessing his knowledge of what can and cannot be released to the press. Also, the "double, secret background" that he required of Cooper shows that he knew enough to know that he couldn't let it be known that the info came from him.

Is Rove this stupid, this arrogant, this secure in his 'untouchability', or a sickening combination of the three?