The Law is On the Side of Valerie Plame by Larry Johnson

[hang a left]

The Law is On the Side of Valerie Plame

By Larry Johnson | bio

From: Politics
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.

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http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/17/22134/358

[spindrifter]

1. It looks like the glitch is in the definition of

covert agent--"and" resides outside....
This is bad, unless she is linked to the FBI part of the definition.

[sallyseven]

2. I saw that mealy mouth

Toensing and she is a bush lover. She is very pompous and obnoxious. Thinks that she knows it all.

[EST]

3. The speculation, which the inimitable Ms. Toensing fails to

mention, is that the espionage act seems to be a better fit.
The most wonderful thing seems to be happening-every time a r/w shill jumps in and tries to improve the spin, their own ignorance and lack of candor adds to the discrediting of that whole BS party. A few may figure out distance from this unholy regime is the only possible solution to their own fading credibility

Edited to add: Remember--it was the CIA which originally demanded this investigation from the justice department.