[CharlesWayneCT]

That "keep cover status secret" argument was made when Novak said he called the CIA to get confirmation, and they didn't tell him NOT to publish her name. He said he wouldn't have if they had told him it was something they didn't want revealed.

Novak didn't think she was a covert agent -- he said "operative" as a journalistic license.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Novak didn't think she was a covert agent -- he said "operative" as a journalistic license."

In recent years, "operative" has become a word that everyone likes to use; it's used here in FR all the time - "Democratic operative" - and so forth. It makes everything sound conspiratorial and James-Bondish. It's a fun word and very popular with journalists.