Free Republic

<p>BODY: She was a CIA case officer working in Europe covertly, holding herself out as the representative of a Texas foundation that was interested in world economics.</p> <p>Unlike most CIA case officers overseas who work out of U.S. embassies and purport to be diplomats, she was operating under what CIA calls "nonofficial cover" (NOC).</p>

<p>PARIS &#8212; A media ruckus has erupted in France over claims that a government minister was paid as a contact by a CIA spy before being persuaded by the French secret service to pass false information to the Americans.</p> <p>"Carnets Intimes de la DST," a book on the French secret service to be published this week, says Henri Plagnol, now secretary of state for civil service reform, passed information to the United States in the 1990s when Washington was investigating France's position in world trade talks.</p>