New World Risin' From the Shambles of the Old....

Okay... this is really starting to piss me off.

The Rovian Slaves have been busy establishing the two prongs of Karl Rove's defense during the last 24 hours. First, that he didn't mention Valerie Wilson/Plame "by name" and second that he didn't disclose classified information. The plain truth is this: the first of these two assertions is at least misleading, and entirely irrelevant... and, not surprisingly, the second is simply wrong.

According to Matt Cooper's now infamous email, Karl told Cooper that "Wilson's wife"--not "Valerie Plame," or "Valerie Wilson"-- worked at the CIA. But here's the thing: this distinction has absolutely no legal relevance here. Don't be fooled! Under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (suddenly the most famous law that no one has ever heard of) a crime is committed when a government official "intentionally discloses any information identifying" an undercover intelligence officer. The act does not say a name must be disclosed. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but it's obvious to even me that by telling a reporter that Joseph Wilson's wife was a CIA officer, Rove was clearly disclosing "identifying" information. Armed with that knowledge and the magic of Google anyone could unearth... well, this. So, again: revealing the name isn't the crime; it's disclosing information that IDs the officer. The issue is identifying, not naming. Rove and his Neoconbots can't hide behind this ridiculous, parsed-to-death no-name claim. They'll try, sure... but it won't hold up in court.

But let's not stop there! This law also indicates that if Cooper's email is accurate then Karl did pass classified information to Cooper. Sure, It's possible that he did so without knowing... maybe, somehow, he didn't know Valerie Wilson's employment status at the CIA was classified information. But come on! He can't say the information he slipped to Cooper wasn't classified.

You know why? Because the Intelligence Identities Protection Act makes it a crime to identify "a covert agent" of the United States. The law defines a "covert agent," in part, as "a present or retired officer or employee of an intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified information."

Since the CIA asked the Justice Department to investigate the Plame/CIA leak and the Justice Department affirmed the need for an investigation and then special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald pursued the matter, it's pretty damn reasonable to assume that Valerie Wilson fits the definition of a "covert agent," don't you think? That means she has a "classified relationship" with the government. It follows then, that by disclosing Valerie Wilson's relationship to the CIA, Karl was passing classified information to a reporter. That's illegal Catfish!

Still not convinced? Consider this: the "most basic personnel information of the CIA --the number of personnel, the salaries-- is classified. Anything more specific --like the identity of a NOC [an officer working under "nonofficial cover," as was Valerie Wilson] or the numbers and identities of officers working in a particular region of the world-- is classified." So says Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.

So, like I said, it doesn't matter if Karl didn't mention Valerie Wilson by name, and it's not true that the information he passed to Cooper wasn't classified.

Leaking classified information is always, rightfully serious business. Dubya took an unusually-unambiguous stand on the leaking of classified information when he was asked on September 30, 2003, about Karl's possible role in the Plame/CIA leak. He stuttered: "I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action."

Well kids, now Bush knows.

Karl, according to the Cooper email, didn't leak a name but he did leak classified information.

Isn't it time for "appropriate action?"