by
Larry C Johnson (bio/blog)
The ignorance, masquerading as knowledge, is rampant in the media when it comes to the issue of CIA cover.
If you want to hear stupidity tune in to Byron York, Tucker Carlson, Fred Thompson, G. Gordon Liddy and Salon's Alex Koppelman. Koppleman captures the golden dunce cap for cretin of the day with the following:
Despite Fitzgerald's assertions, and Judge Walton's seeming acceptance of that argument, Toensing has a decent, if not airtight, case. The plain language of the statute -- "The term 'covert agent' means ... a present or retired officer or employee of an intelligence agency ... who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States" -- doesn't define what "serving" and "served" mean. Neither does a Senate Judiciary Committee report on the legislative history of the IIPA, though it does say, "The committee has carefully considered the definition of 'covert agent' and has included only those identities which it has determined to be absolutely necessary to protect for reasons of imminent danger to life or significant interference with vital intelligence activities," adding later that it is undercover officers and employees overseas who are in particular danger when their identity is revealed.
It is truly astonishing that these rightwing ninnies, who made fun of Bill Clinton struggling to define what "is" is, are busily parsing the word "served" while ignoring very simple, direct statements by Patrick Fitzgerald. In a sworn statement submitted to a Federal judge, Patrick Fitzgerald wrote on p. five of the sentencing calculation memo:
At the time of the leaks, Ms. Wilson in fact qualified as a “covert agent” within the meaning of the IIPA. See, e.g.l, the “Unclassified Summary of Valerie Wilson’s CIA Employment and Cover History” (a copy of which is annexed as Exhibit A), which makes plain, among other things, that “Ms. Wilson was a covert CIA employee for whom the CIA was taking affirmative measures to conceal her intelligence relationship to the United States. (Note: Fitzgerald also says he reviewed the classified file as well.)
How could a person be based in the the United States and still "serve" overseas? Very easily. Let's start first with the cases of Gary Schroen and Gary Berntsen. Schroen and Berntsen were under official cover in the fall of 2001. Unlike Valerie, who as a non-official cover officer aka "noc" had no acknwoledged relationship with the U.S. Govervnment, Schroen and Berntsen held "official cover". They worked for the U.S. Government but had no "official" tie to the CIA. Schroen and Berntsen each spent less than 12 weeks in Afghanistan taking apart the Al Qaeda network in the fall of 2001. Even though they resided in the United States they were temporarily assigned overseas. It is called "TDY". TDY means, "temporary duty". Had they been outed their identities were still protected under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA).
Victoria Toensing is not the authority on the IIPA. She was not the principal drafter. That distinction belongs to Brent Budowsky, who worked for Senator Lloyd Bentsen at the time. According to Brent, the purpose of the language in the IIPA was to protect CIA officers who worked overseas, specifically those officers who had worked overseas in an undercover position within a five year period.
So where does Valerie fit in? Valerie was a non-official cover officer working in the Counter Proliferation Division of the Directorate of Operations. How do we know that? The CIA provided that information in an unclassified summary to Patrick Fitzgerald and it is now a part of the court record in the Scooter Libby case. In addition, David Corn and Michael Isikoff reported this same information in their 2006 book, HUBRIS. They added that Valerie was Chief of Operations for locating weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Valerie, Gary Schroen, Gary Berntsen, and other CIA officers, like Tyler Drumheller, were undercover, were covered by the IIPA and went to work every day at the CIA. When CIA officers who are undercover are inside the United States where do these right wing brain surgeons think they go to work? Maxwell Smart's phone booth elevator to C.O.N.T.R.O.L. Headquarters? Boys and girls, they go to an office building in Northern Virginia that bears the name of George Herbert Walker Bush.
Valerie, we are now told, traveled overseas seven times between January 2002 and July 2003. Each time she traveled under non-official cover. Sometimes she traveled as Valerie Wilson, Energy Consultant with Brewster Jennings. Other times she traveled using an alias--which means she had a different passport and name. Once she stepped foot outside of the United States to meet with foreign officials in the pursuit of knowledge about Saddams weapons of mass destruction, she was serving overseas. Only the most obtuse, dishonest idiots would try to argue that an undercover CIA officer working overseas, even for a week, is not deserving of having his or her identity protected. What is so difficult about this concept?
It is up to Valerie to tell her own story. But this much I know. She was in the process of moving into official cover status. She hoped eventually to go overseas and work as a CIA official in a U.S. Embassy. Such officials are covered by the IIPA. But the leaks to reporters, including the leak to Robert Novak, destroyed that career option.
I belabor the point about Valerie's cover because a potential Presidential candidate, Fred Thompson, is displaying a grotesque, bizarre depth of ignorance that is genuinely frightening for someone who has been a Senator and has portrayed a hard nosed district attorney on T.V. Thompson insists that Valerie was not undercover. Yet Thompson was not briefed on this supposed fact by the CIA. The CIA, in fact, states otherwise. CIA Director Hayden approved a written statement for Congressman Waxman that stated very clearly that Valerie was undercover and was serving in a covert position. The CIA subsequently released an unclassified summary to the court of Federal Judge Reggie Walton that reaffirmed these facts.
Fred Thompson is a liar and is not worthy of the presidency. I will debate him anytime, anywhere, at my expense. The lies about Valerie Plame Wilson must be challenged. It is not about Valerie. It is about the more fundamental principle that CIA officers who are undercover should not ever be political footballs when policy disputes arise. That is true for Republicans and Democrats alike. When it comes to protecting the cover of CIA officers it is not about partisan politics. It is about protecting America. Thompson excuses perjury and obstruction of justice. I pledge undying opposition to this quisling. A man who would sell out his country for partisan advantage.