In 1982, Congress passed the Intelligence Identities Protection Act as a response to certain former intelligence operatives who thought it would be fun to “out” their former peers and co-workers. Specifically the efforts of Philip Agee, Lewis Wolf, and others.
Two of Agee’s books revealed over 1,000 names of alleged CIA officers. Wolf was co-editor of the “Covert Action Information Bulletin,” a publication which contained a section entitled “Naming Names.” Wolf claimed to have revealed the names of over 2,000 CIA officers. He also provided addresses, phone numbers, license tag numbers, and colors of the automobiles of some alleged intelligence agents. Such calculated disclosures set the stage for the consideration and passage of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.
Admittedly, I was a bit young during that time and really don’t know a whole lot about those events. Now, the reason I bring up the Intelligence Identities Protection Act is because of Newsweek’s confirmation that it was Karl Rove who “outed” CIA operative Valerie Plame to the media and the world.Background
Back in early 2002, Ambassador Joseph Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger to investigate the claims that Iraq was looking to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger. This particular type of uranium could have been used in the process to build a nuclear weapon. In February 2002, Ambassador Wilson reported back that the documents were patent forgeries and that Iraq WAS NOT looking to purchase uranium from Niger. What makes this interesting is that President Bush, in his January 2003 State of the Union address, used these obviously forged documents as part of his case for invading Iraq, claiming that Iraq was seeking to build nuclear weapons. Ambassador Wilson published an article in the New York Times in July of 2003 criticizing the President and his Administration’s use of the forged documents about Iraq’s supposed purchase of yellowcake. Within days of his article appearing the the Times, his wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, had her identity leaked as a CIA operative in a Robert Novak column on July 14, 2003, just 8 days after Wilson’s article in the New York Times.
Subsequent questioning of Scott McClellan and the President about who leaked Plame’s identity were rebuffed repeatedly with promises to take the appropriate action against whoever was responsible. Well, now we know who was responsible–Deputy White House Chief of Staff, Karl Rove. The only question remaining is if the Administration will honor its promise.
Why This Is Important
Karl Rove, as the “senior administration official” who leaked Plame’s identity, is in direct violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. The penalties for “blowing the cover” of a cover intelligence operative are as follows:
§ 421. Protection of identities of certain United States undercover intelligence officers, agents, informants, and sources.(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 identify of covert agents as result of having access to classified information
Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified information, learns the identity 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.
Each of these offenses is a felony. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3571, individuals convicted of a felony may be fined the greater of either the amount set forth in the offense statute or an amount not more than $250,000, while the maximum fine for an organization convicted of a felony would be the greater of the amount set forth in the offense statute or an amount of not more than $500,000. This section also provides for an alternative fine based on pecuniary gain or loss. If anyone has derived pecuniary gain from the
offense or if the offense results in pecuniary loss to any person, the defendant may be fined not more than the greater of twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, unless the imposition of a fine under this subsection would unduly complicate or prolong the sentencing process.The offenses set forth in 50 U.S.C. §§ 421 (a), (b), and (c) share some elements in common: (1) intentional disclosure of the identity of a covert agent (2) to someone not authorized to receive classified information, (3) knowing that the information disclosed identifies that agent, and (4) knowing further that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal the agent’s intelligence relationship with the United States.
Subsections 421(a) and (b) contemplate offenses where the perpetrator has or has had authorized access to classified information, while subsection 421(c) has no similar requirement. Under 50 U.S.C. § 421(a), an offender must have or have had access to classified information which identifies a covert agent. Under 50 U.S.C. § 421(b), the perpetrator must have learned the identity of a covert agent as a result of having authorized access to classified information. In contrast to these provisions, subsection 421(c) does not require that the perpetrator have or have had authorized access to classified information. Rather, it provides that the perpetrator must disclose the identity of the covert agent (1) in the course of a pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents, and (2) must make the disclosure with reason to believe that his or her activities would impair or impede U.S. foreign intelligence activities. Subsection 426(10) defines a “pattern of activities” as involving “a series of acts with a common purpose or objective.”
Now the Bush Administration, as well as Karl Rove, are trying to spin this that Rove did not believe Plame to be a “covert” operative. However, according to this footnote from the IIPAct, his excuse doesn’t fly:
50 U.S.C. § 426(4) defines “covert agent” to mean:
(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, and 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 aUnited 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.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that the President and his Administration are willing to do anything to stifle dissent. The Valerie Plame affair outlined above, coupled with the damning evidence of the Downing Street Documents prove that this is true. It proves that the Iraq invasion was pre-planned with no regard at all to the legality of the invasion, to the concerns of other member nations of the UN, nor to the consequences of their illegal actions. Pretty soon, all of this deception and blatant law-breaking is going to catch up to Bush and his “Architect”. Karl Rove needs to fired by Bush and sentenced to the next several years in prison for his role in the Plame scandal. Let’s just hope that US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who heads the investigation, does the right thing and pushes for indictment of Karl Rove.
Major hat tips to the following for background information:
Valerie Plame Wikipedia
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
