A great, great article on the two federal laws at issue in the Plame leak:

[tjdee]

Oh yeah, and it's written by John Dean. Yes, that one. (Has this been on DU before?)

This is one of the best pieces I've read on this, and it clearly shows why someone's ass is grass over this leak. I mean, the only person the clerk (described below) told was her boyfriend, and she did two years.

"The Reagan Administration effectively used the Espionage Act of 1917 to prosecute a leak - to the horror of the news media. It was a case that was instituted to make a point, and establish the law, and it did just that in spades."

...

"Another applicable criminal statute is the Intelligence Identities Act, enacted in 1982. The law has been employed in the past. For instance, a low-level CIA clerk was convicted for sharing the identify of CIA employees with her boyfriend, when she was stationed in Ghana. She pled guilty and received a two-year jail sentence. (Other have also been charged with violations, but have pleaded to unrelated counts of the indictment.)"

http://www.yuricareport.com/Impeachment/DeanOnWilsonLeakWorseThanNixon.html

[Jane Austin]

1. That's a good piece

But it's from a while back, isn't it?

He's written some really good stuff quite recently on the subject, partcularly the fraud aspect of this case, that can be seen at www.findlaw.com

[tjdee]

2. Maybe....

I just stumbled upon it, so it's more than likely it was up at DU the instant it was there, LOL!

It didn't occur to me to check out findlaw.com for more pieces...so thank you! :hi:

[Jane Austin]

3. Keith Olbermann has John Dean on frequently

and I really like his commentary. There's always something new to think about in what he says.