Classified 2003 Memo Gives Clear Indication Plame Was Covert

[JABBS]

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contains information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the three-page memo's existence in its July 19 edition. A story in today's Washington Post provided greater details.

The June 10, 2003 memo refers to Plame by her married name, Valerie Wilson. According to a source who described the memo to the Post, Plame is mentioned in the memo's second paragraph.

The paragraph is clearly market to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials.

Anyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information, the Post's sources said. It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a federal official to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert CIA official if the person knows the government is trying to keep it secret.

Prosecutors attempting to determine whether senior government officials knowingly leaked Plame's identity as a covert CIA operative to the media are investigating whether White House officials gained access to information about her from the memo, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

Karl Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, has testified that he learned Plame's name from Novak a few days before telling another reporter she worked at the CIA and played a role in her husband's mission, according to a lawyer familiar with Rove's account. Rove has also testified that the first time he saw the State Department memo was when "people in the special prosecutor's office" showed it to him, said Robert Luskin, his attorney.

Rove and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, have been identified as people who discussed Plame with Time reporter Matthew Cooper. Prosecutors are trying to determine the origin of their knowledge of Plame, including whether it was from the memo or from conversations with reporters.

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Meanwhile, eleven former intelligence officers spoke up on behalf of Plame yesterday, saying that leaking her identity may have damaged national security and threatens the ability of U.S. intelligence gathering.

In a July 20 statement to congressional leaders, the former officers said the Republican National Committee has circulated talking points that incorrectly state that Plame was not undercover, and thus did not deserve protection.

There are thousands of U.S. intelligence officers who work at a desk in the Washington, D.C., area every day who are undercover as Plame was when her identity was leaked, the statement added.

"Intelligence officers should not be used as political footballs," the statement read.

This article first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

[JABBS]

1. Is this the smoking gun???

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. I think Karl Rove/White House leaked memo to Washington Post

I've asked myself how this classified document could have secretly reached the press. I don't think it would come from Mr. Fitzgerald and, given the high profile nature that this controversy has recently taken on, I don't think rogue individuals inside the Bush Administration would now jeopardize themselves. I think this memo came directly from the White House as a planned, timed leak.

The memo would have come out eventually, especially if the Grand Jury hands down indictments. One of the recourses of the Bush
Administration is to control when the American public learns of certain events or documents now in the hands of Patrick Fitzgerald. I think you're going to see many attempts by the Bush Administration
to get their spin out way ahead of time, instead of having these memos, documents, and witnesses become sudden and dramatic revelations as a result of a public prosecution.

The memo was apparently prepared by an analyst within the State Department, not the White House. A copy of the original memo was delivered to Colin Powell while he was on Air Force One. We don't know if it was delivered under seal or not. It wouldn't surprise me if the Bush Administration tries to place the blame on Powell
and the State Department, suggesting that Rove, Libby, et al. only learned of "Wilson's wife" and her work for the CIA in a second-hand manner, from State Department officials who knew that Plame's identity had to be kept secret, but who didn't communicate that to the White House.

I may be wrong and perhaps this memo was not leaked to the press by the White House. I guess we can wait to hear how the Republicans will spin this. But I think it's almost a certainly that the Bush Administration will be leaking and revealing selected parts of Fitzgerald's case, not to voluntarily come clean or keep the American public informed, but to get ahead of the spin and prepare public opinion in any way they can, especially knowing that this will come out anyway. Note that now that this memo has been made public, we have been simultaneously informed of the fact that Rove has seen it in the hands of the prosecutor under questioning, but denies that he ever saw it before. Why has that bit of information suddenly come out, and come out at the same time? In my opinion, it's Rove's attorney doing this type of leaking, with the White House's assistance.