Sunday, July 10, 2005
Valerie Plame - Secret Agent Woman?
Vanity Fair reported January 17, 2004 that Valerie Plame moved back to Washington DC in 1997 because the CIA suspected that her name had been "on a list provided to the Russians by the double agent Aldrich Ames in 1994." It appears from the article that she had no foreign assignment thereafter.
This would seem to indicate that Ms. Plame was not a "covert agent" as defined under the statute. To be a "covert agent" under the statute the person must be acting as an intelligence agent outside the US or have served outside the US as such an agent within the last five years. The other possible provision applies to a counterintelligence officer working for the FBI.
Bob Novak's column was dated July 14, 2003, over 5 years after Ms. Plame returned from overseas assignment. Thus, Ms. Plame would not appear to be a "covert agent" within the statutory definition.
Mr. Novak's use of the term "operative" is irrelevant to the issue. The only issue is whether Ms. Palme met the statutory requirements of "covert agent" at the time Mr. Novak published his column. If Vanity Fair's reporting was accurate, it would appear that she did not.
# posted by Thomas A. Becket : 7:35 PM
