I don't understand Rove's argument 'He didn't know she was undercover'

[Tony_FLADEM]

Why would he bother leaking her name to a reporter if he thought she was not undercover. If she was not undercover surely the reporter could have found out about Valerie Plame himself without Rove leaking her name.

[Zen Democrat]

1. The big question now is ... WHO TOLD ROVE.

That's the person that's guilty of the biggest felony here. And you know what I think??? I think it's GEORGE W. BUSH.

Trapped by Daddy's Law. How delicious.

[Beaver Tail]

2. I think it is Chaney

[Jo March]

4. I'm thinking it's Cheney

I think that he leaked it to Rove and let Rove do the dirty work, which Rove had no problem in doing.

If there was fallout, Rove would take the fall and Cheney would be protected. Rove winds up somewhere making millions in "consulting fees" and Cheney walks free.

[Guckert]

10. Rove would be the Olie North of the the Bush babies term.

[Cassandra]

13. Bush* only knows...

what his staff feels like telling him. I vote for either Cheney or Judith Miller.

[EC]

20. I'm with you

I really think it was Miller, unfortunately, I was hoping for ** or Chaney...But Miller has put out several books on the Middle East and Afghanistan and WMD's - she could have seen Plame doing her job, but what I'm hoping is that she mentioned it to Chaney, Chaney mentioned it to Rove and on down...

[converted_democrat]

14. Zactly...........

I think your right, for what it's worth.

[eallen]

24. That's an important question, but not for quite that reason.

I seriously doubt it would have been a violation of the law for someone else in the White House to tell Rove about undercover agents, for the simple reason that Rove has to hold a security clearance, for the kind of work he does. Laws about revealing or passing information are written in terms of boundaries, and since Rove is on the inside, bound by law and oath, the person who told him didn't violate security, the way Rove did when he told a reporter.

But. If Rove was told about Plame for the purpose of trying to discredit Wilson, that indicates a larger conspiracy within the Bush White House, both to fix the intelligence, and to betray government agents, as Rove eventually did. If Bush was involved, that would be a crime worse than Watergate. Even if he merely learned about it after the fact, and held it secret, to help cover it up.

[NYC]

3. Legal technicality.

Covering his ass.

[meow2u3]

5. Does Nixon's "I am not a crook" ring a bell?

Or Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations..."?

[Goldeneye]

6. My understanding is

that he was trying to discredit Wilson by saying his claims about Uranium from Niger were politically motivated and the only reason he went was because Plame set it up. So by giving reporters this information, he was trying to prevent stories undermining BushCo's case for war from being run. That is the reason he is going to use anyway. It might be plausible if it were even remotely true.

[louis-t]

21. At the same time they are saying Plame set it up

the talking heads are calling her a glorified secretary to argue she was not undercover. Everyone knows a 'glorified secretary' has soooo much authority to insist that her husband get the gig. Sheeesh!

[AlCzervik]

7. he was trying to discredit Wilson's trip imo

also Michael Isikoff from newsweek said on cnn that Powell and Bush had classified state dept. docs about his trip when they were flying somewhere and the press was on the plane-so was Rove. I think Karl got a hold of that doc and started the mud slinging.

[garybeck]

8. it's a sign that he's in trouble

talking defensive. contradicting prior statements. he's in trouble.

[MrBenchley]

9. The law doesn't differentiate

whether the person named is undercover or not...it's a crime to "out" a CIA agent.

[DURHAM D]

16. On Franken's show this am Larry O'Donnel said it is a

crime for the person with clearance to pass on info but not a crime for the person who received the info (who does not have clearance} to repeat it. I don't know if Larry is an attorney but that is not how I see the issue.

[MrBenchley]

THIS sums the issue up nicely...

"The revelation that Karl Rove was the source who leaked Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent to Time's Matt Cooper probably comes as a surprise to exactly nobody. After all, dirty tricks have been the hallmark of Rove's political career since he was a teenager.

As this story continues to unfold over the next few weeks, Republicans are going to try to parse every word Rove ever uttered about the case. They're going to dissect every letter of relevant law trying to find a loophole to prove that Karl Rove is innocent.

But let's make one thing perfectly clear: Rove's secret outing of Valerie Plame put partisan politics above the security of our nation. He chose to reveal Plame's identity as a CIA agent, with no thought to the consequences to American national security, simply because it provided an opportunity to smear her husband.

And this is part of a pattern. When Democrats proposed creating the Department of Homeland Security, Republicans fought it until they saw a partisan advantage to exploit in the 2002 elections. When the September 11 Commission was trying to get the facts about the terrorist attacks on our soil, the administration fought them every step of the way.

And the war in Iraq is a disaster today because President Bush and his team have consistently chosen to score political points instead of doing the right thing."

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/07/bush_puts_parti.php

And the AP, for once, puts it in focus....

"For two years, the White House has insisted that presidential adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the leak of a CIA officer's identity. And President Bush said the leaker would be fired.
But Mr. Bush's spokesman wouldn't repeat any of those assertions Monday in the face of Rove's own lawyer saying his client spoke with at least one reporter about Valerie Plame's role at the CIA before she was identified in a newspaper column. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/11/politics/main708165.shtml

Now, you can ask WHY this weekend's revelations didn't cause pResident Weaksuck to instantly demand Rove's resignation...but the delay shows that Chimpy was and is, if not an active participant, a silent co-conspirator.

[Just Me]

11. He's trying to avoid charges of treason.

By pleading ignorance, he is attempting to show he didn't intentionally reveal her identity.

It's bullshit, of course. He's screwed unless BushCo sets up an arrangement where he resigns in exchange for a high-paying consultation position for a US multinational company overseas.

No matter what, the man should be charged/tried/convicted/imprisoned.

[applegrove]

12. Perhaps this goes as far as Grover Norqhuest's fax tree. You know

on a wednesday they sit in a room and agree on frame & spin and then all tentacles including a staffer for Novak go out and report to their neocon masters what the words of the week will be.

Don't know of course. But that would be interesting. I'm sure they have more private coordination meetings than the ones they publicize.

[libertypirate]

15. It doesn't matter.... We are talking about double blind identification

In all the documentation they receive from the CIA the agents are not identified by their actual names. They are always given a code name and besides the director of the CIA and maybe some of his underlings no one should be able to pick up a phone to find out who the code name belongs.

This is essential for protection of the agents and the assets the agent may have cultivated. This action by Rove and the Whitehouse likely resulted in the deaths of multiple CIA employees and other assets.

In the end someone at the Whitehouse had to have known that Plame was Wilson’s wife (from previous work) or request it directly either way it doesn't matter. The reason why the code names and real names are need to know is because this very scenario and it makes the perps much easier to find. This is why they are trying to make people think this was common knowledge.

[DURHAM D]

17. Makes one wonder if John Bolton was in this mix - someone

known to demand intelligence info and then use it incorrectly.

[Disturbed]

18. Rove didn't actually say her name.

He just said Joe Wilson's wife. That is 4th grade talk. I guess he and his Attorney really do think that most Amerikans are that stupid. I hope that the GJ folk are of at least average Iq.

[libertypirate]

22. It doesn't matter if he called her cuckoobananas

If he called her by her third grade nick name... In no way would Rove know who Plame was from any document that came from the CIA. It wouldn't have had a reference to the color of her blouse let alone to her identity.

They had to either have this coveted knowledge (previous to their position in the WH) or expressly ask for it from someone at the CIA. Either way who ever knew who she was knew what they were doing.

[Jack The Tab]

19. DING DING DING !!!!! You have the big picture..

I remember reading an article on this situation when the MSM was completely ignoring it.

The gist of this article was not that the most harm was done to Valerie Plame (however she was put in harms way) but to her multitude of contacts and other agents that were working on busting TERRORISTS ATTEMPTING TO BUY MATERIAL FOR WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

So, in Rove's little revenge play, he destabilized not only our fight against people who actively pursue the materials for weapons of mass destruction, but the lives of dozens of agents (from the CIA to our allies agencies) and her own well being.

This whole crooked, ugly, traitorous crew needs to be in jail.

[libertypirate]

23. I think we read the same article.

[brettdale]

25. kick

kick

[Bouncy Ball]

26. The fuck he didn't.

Of COURSE he knew she was undercover!!! LOL, is he actually SAYING he didn't know?

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!