This is an oldie but a goodie. Back in September 2003, an unnamed senior administration official came forward to the Washington Post because "he or she" felt the Plame leak was "wrong and a huge miscalculation." And, most importantly (for today's purposes), "he or she" explained that the leak was "purely and simply for revenge."
In other words (or, more precisely, in this senior official's words), the fact that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative was "irrelevant" to the veracity of what Joe Wilson was saying about the lack of evidence of an Iraq-Niger yellowcake deal.
Now, who WAS that?
Obviously, this explanation doesn't square with current GOP talking points -- REVENGE implies INTENT -- and KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE DOING, namely, BLOWING THE MAN'S WIFE'S COVER.
Here's the story:
A senior administration official told the Washington Post that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife.
The senior official said he or she came forward to the Post because the leaks were "wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility."
Former CIA analyst Raymond McGovern is out raged. "People frequently die from revelations like this," he says. "We don't know what will happen in this case and I suppose it will come out in the end."
The alleged motive for outing the agent, may have been revenge against her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Wilson had just published an article detailing his warnings to the administration that there was no concrete evidence that Iraq had purchased uranium from Niger.
"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official told the Washington Post.
Wilson says, "For an administration that came to Washington promising to restore honor and dignity to the White House, this kind of low blow, even in a bare knuckled town like Washington, was neither honorable nor dignified."
Wilson has publicly suggested Bush advisor Karl Rove broke his wife's cover.
Rice downplayed the accusations, saying, "The Justice Department gets these as a matter of routine."
