Leak of Agent's Name Causes Exposure of CIA Front Firm

Washington Post ^ | October 4, 2003 | Walter Pincus and Mike Allen

[AntiGuv]

The leak of a CIA operative's name has also exposed the identity of a CIA front company, potentially expanding the damage caused by the original disclosure, Bush administration officials said yesterday.

The company's identity, Brewster-Jennings & Associates, became public because it appeared in Federal Election Commission records on a form filled out in 1999 by Valerie Plame, the case officer at the center of the controversy, when she contributed $1,000 to Al Gore's presidential primary campaign.

After the name of the company was broadcast yesterday, administration officials confirmed that it was a CIA front. They said the obscure and possibly defunct firm was listed as Plame's employer on her W-2 tax forms in 1999 when she was working undercover for the CIA.

[AntiGuv]

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[Shaka]

Someone is working late....nice catch.

Does this mean the original leak was from a Gore supporter???

[Rodney King]

Give me a break. The dumb broad lists her CIA front company on her donation to Gore rather than just saying "Consultant", "Self-employed", "Retired", or "Homemaker" and that is supposed to be anyone's fault but hers?

[jospehm20]

It is never the fault of a lib for not thinking things through.

[okie01]

"Does this mean the original leak was from a Gore supporter???"

No. But it means that Walter Pincus and Mike Allen are part of "the team".

[okie01]

A former diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said yesterday that every foreign intelligence service would run Plame's name through its databases within hours of its publication to determine if she had visited their country and to reconstruct her activities.

"That's why the agency is so sensitive about just publishing her name," the former diplomat said.

Three guesses as to the identity of the "former diplomat"...

[GOPJ]

She supported Gore. There's a pattern of missing the obvious...

Give me a break. The dumb broad lists her CIA front company on her donation to Gore rather than just saying "Consultant", "Self-employed", "Retired", or "Homemaker" and that is supposed to be anyone's fault but hers?

[cookcounty]

okie, what newspaper is that from?

[Shermy]

Is that "former diplomat Mr. Wilson?

[NutCrackerBoy]

The leak of a CIA operative's name has also exposed the identity of a CIA front company, potentially expanding the damage caused by the original disclosure, Bush administration officials said yesterday.

Someone did a good job getting the Administration out in front of the story. Makes them seem less defensive.

[Shermy]

Put "walter pincus joseph wilson" into a search engine.

I'm going to the casino right now and betting on Joe.

In fact, the two might have quite a history together.

[Shermy]

From "Mission to Niger by Robert Novak:

"...After eight days in the Niger capital of Niamey (where he once served), Wilson made an oral report in Langley that an Iraqi uranium purchase was "highly unlikely," though he also mentioned in passing that a 1988 Iraqi delegation tried to establish commercial contacts. CIA officials did not regard Wilson's intelligence as definitive, being based primarily on what the Niger officials told him and probably would have claimed under any circumstances. The CIA report of Wilson's briefing remains classified.

All this was forgotten until reporter Walter Pincus revealed in the Washington Post June 12 that an unnamed retired diplomat had given the CIA a negative report. Not until Wilson went public on July 6, however, did his finding ignite the firestorm.

[Mike Darancette]

Palme blew her cover and the cover of her front organization in 1999 by making this dumb move. The bad guys were given two routes to Palme and the front company at one stroke.

Palme should be prosecuted for such a gross security breach.

[windchime]

That there was probably a relationship was established in one of the other threads through comments made by Pincus in another article.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/993741/posts

[Mike Darancette]

OBTW: Wilson/Palme listed her occupation as analyist.

[piasa]

Pincus again?

Pincus let out some leaks on Plame shortly after he apparently attended a July 4th celebration at the wilson's home.

Let me guess, was there some sort of gathering including Pincus or another WP writer at Wilson's home again? It's a little early to be celebrating the October Revolution, isn't it?

[piasa]

A former diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said yesterday that every foreign intelligence service would run Plame's name through its databases within hours of its publication to determine if she had visited their country and to reconstruct her activities.

If that's the case, then you can bet every foreign intelligence service has run the names of all of our diplomat's wives & relatives through a database years ago. Maybe Wilson should have thought of that before sticking her name on the end of his bio...

Maybe Valerie should not have been making campaign donations since they require public disclosure. Instead, maybe she should have just volunteered to run some agents for Al Gore, maybe have them lift some of Bush's practice debate videos, eh?

[SCHROLL]

and what if it turns out she used CIA money to make the contribution? That'd be just too sweet.

[Alamo-Girl]

They certainly do seem to be in touch with one another quite often...