Posted on 10/17/2005 7:25:22 PM PDT by blogblogginaway
Despite claims to the contrary, the Identity Protection Act spells trouble for White House officials. Republican talking points have achieved some success in muddying the waters by insisting that Robert Novak's outing of CIA clandestine officer, Valerie Plame, was not a violation of the law. The typical presentation of this red herring was bandied about most recently in an October 10, 2005 article by Washington Times reporter, Joseph Curl. Curl wrote:
But lawyers familiar with the probe say special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald appears to be changing the grand jury's initial focus in part because the law protecting covert CIA operatives appears not to apply to Valerie Plame, whose name first surfaced in a July 2003 column by conservative Robert Novak. "There is not one fact that I have seen that there could be a violation of the agent identity act," said Victoria Toensing, a lawyer who helped draft the 1982 act.
The Intelligence Identities Protection Act outlaws intentional disclosure of any information identifying a covert agent. The penalty for violating the law is imprisonment for up to 10 years.
But according to the law, Mrs. Plame was not a "covert agent" at the time that at least two senior Bush administration officials discussed her with reporters.
Ms. Toensing is wrong. Let us pray that Ms. Toensing is not practicing law these days because, if her comments in this article reflect her abilities as an attorney, clients could be in serious trouble. Valerie Plame was a "covert agent" as defined by the law. In her cover position as a consultant to Brewster-Jennings, Ms. Plame served overseas on clandestine missions. Just because she did not live overseas full time does not mean she did not work overseas using her status as a non-official cover officer.
Unfortunately, the organized plot by White House officials to expose Valerie Plame also permanently ended her ability to ever serve overseas in an official cover position. At a minimum, U.S. tax payers invested at least $250,000 (that is in 1985 dollars) in training Valerie as a case officer. Karl Rove, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and others not yet revealed destroyed by their reckless acts her career, a CIA front company, and a network of intelligence assets.
The law to "protect the identities of undercover officers, agents, and sources" is only one possible source of jeopardy for the White House gang. (The key parts of the law are reprinted below.) The important point is not that a law was broken, but that our country is in the hands of a President who is willing to tolerate people in his Administration who are admitted liars and who played a direct role in compromising our nation's security. President Bush is sending a clear message--it is more important to protect cronies than protect this country.
Oct 17, 2005 -- 10:01:34 PM EST
TITLE 50 > CHAPTER 15 > SUBCHAPTER IV > § 421 § 421. Protection of identities of certain United States undercover intelligence officers, agents, informants, and sources
Release date: 2005-03-17
(a) Disclosure of information by persons having or having had access to classified information that identifies covert agent Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. (b) Disclosure of information by persons who learn identity of covert agents as result of having access to classified information Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified information, learns the identify of a covert agent and intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (c) Disclosure of information by persons in course of pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents Whoever, in the course of a pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States, discloses any information that identifies an individual as a covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such individual and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such individual's classified intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. (d) Imposition of consecutive sentences A term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be consecutive to any other sentence of imprisonment.
TITLE 50 > CHAPTER 15 > SUBCHAPTER IV > § 426
§ 426. Definitions
Release date: 2005-03-17
For the purposes of this subchapter:
(4) The term "covert agent" means-- (A) 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-- (i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified information, and (ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States; or (B) a United States citizen whose intelligence relationship to the United States is classified information, and-- (i) who resides and acts outside the United States as an agent of, or informant or source of operational assistance to, an intelligence agency, or (ii) who is at the time of the disclosure acting as an agent of, or informant to, the foreign counterintelligence or foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; or (C) an individual, other than a United States citizen, whose past or present intelligence relationship to the United States is classified information and who is a present or former agent of, or a present or former informant or source of operational assistance to, an intelligence agency.
(4) The term "covert agent" means-- (A) 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-- (i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified information,
Yes, she fullfills (A)(i).
and(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States;
She was not serving outside the US, and had not within the last 5 years been serving outside the US. (A)(ii)not fulfilled.
or (B) a United States citizen whose intelligence relationship to the United States is classified information, and-- (i) who resides and acts outside the United States as an agent of, or informant or source of operational assistance to, an intelligence agency,
Nope that's not her. (B) is satisfied but (B)(i) is not.
or (ii) who is at the time of the disclosure acting as an agent of, or informant to, the foreign counterintelligence or foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
Nope she never worked for the FBI (that we know of)
or (C) an individual, other than a United States citizen, whose past or present intelligence relationship to the United States is classified information and who is a present or former agent of, or a present or former informant or source of operational assistance to, an intelligence agency.
Well she is a US citizen, so that disqualifies her from paragraph (C).
Am I making any mistakes here? Remember the ands and ors are very important.
OK, you posted this claptrap, I really want hear your take on it, please respond.
Yes. The only reason I posted it is because most here know who he is and we could poke a little fun at the loser. Hope he doesn't feel the urge to threaten anyone who is better educated than he in these matters like he did before when he proved beyond any reasonable doubt what a loser in life wannabe he is.
Larry Johnson was PART OF THE EX-CIA CONSPIRACY TO DEFEAT BUSH IN 2004! He was one of those running around with conspiracy theories and pimping the Joe Wilson and other related stories...
He's the least objective person on this topic you could possibly find ... except Joe Wilson himself.
Larry Johnson quote (7/10/2001) -
"I hope for a world where facts, not fiction, determine our policy. While terrorism is not vanquished, in a world where thousands of nuclear warheads are still aimed across the continents, terrorism is not the biggest security challenge confronting the United States, and it should not be portrayed that way."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1447248/posts
And what happened two months later Larry?
This is the only time I have seen the panties in a twist liberal democrat crud worried about national security. When Bugger was stealing documents they had nothing to say. The leftists who are now screaming national security are just hypocrites who have opposed the CIA/ NSA / DIA etc. 100% of the time.
Bwhahaha!!! Didn't he have a relative who helped design The Titanic?
Ummm... "Mr. Expert"? REALLY? Impressive.
Larry Johnson, liar, traitor, incompetent, paranoid, fool.
The divergence is on the facts. He provides a different set of facts, reaches the opposite conclusion.
Toensings point of view was expressed in the amicus brief filed on behalf of 39 media outlets - that brief argued "no crime"
IIRC, John Dean (?) some weasel anyway, had a theory that a different statue could be violated to get an underlying cause of action.
I don't even bother following this because I think it's pure media fudge.
Ummmm...didn't Ms. Toensing CO-AUTHOR this law? How can Mr. Expert say she is wrong?
What a moron.
What a big fat loser.
Yes, just how does EVERYONE on the MSM side have "knowledge" of Plames covertness? As far as I can tell we really don't know with any certainty whether she was or was not covert. All we really know is that it doesn't appear that she was.
Looking for ham sandwich?
Thanks.
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