Comments on: State Memo Did Not Indicate Plame’s Role Was Secret

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 20:31:13 +0000

"Itâ��s not like Joe Wilson was shy in the presence of media or anything"

Exactly. And strangely enough all those crying out it was common knowledge have quite a different story under oath (or STFU when the possibility of having to testify under oath appoaches).

See Mitchell, Andrea for a darn good example. Or that loco general who claimed Wilson bragged about it in the CNN green room.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 21:50:04 +0000

And maybe, just maybe, any number of reporters may have had dinner with--perhaps even at the house of--the Wilsons! It's not like Joe Wilson was shy in the presence of media or anything...

By: Sen C fing

Sen C fing — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 20:20:43 +0000

Research. Maybe a Congreeman was on the intelligence committee knew a wife who started a research bureau at Peace Corps. Maybe Wilson is an RPCV. Maybe he worked with Morraccon intelligence.

By: legion

legion — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 19:41:31 +0000

Zelsdorf, I am quite aware of the Libby investigation. But if you'll glance back to the title of James' original topic, the subject is whether or not the release of Plame's identity was a crime in and of itself. Surely you would agree that this question must be answered before charges can be brought against anyone, no? I personally believe it was; even though the President does have the authority to declassify information, he cannot do so by simple verbal fiat - it must be documented. The NIE info was publically declassified a full 10 days after Libby's reporter round-robin. The State Dept memo containing the Plame reference is a seperate item. If Plame's name wasn't tabbed out as being classified in the memo, that's a major failure of the writer, but it doesn't necessarily clear Libby, or anyone else. By the way, your hypocritical use of the term 'liar' to describe Joe Wilson, deserved or not, clashes badly with your close of 'no insult intended'. If you're going to be a jerk, be a jerk. Don't be a jerk and tell me you're being nice.

By: Zelsdorf Ragshaft

Zelsdorf Ragshaft — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 18:02:58 +0000

Legion, please pay attention. Scooter Libby is not charged with revealing who the liar Wilson's wife worked for, he is being charged with perjury. The President is the competent authority in this case, in spite of what those with lesser credentials believe. Legion, I truly hope your avocation does not require the competent grasp of facts. No insult intended.

By: legion

legion — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 16:35:25 +0000

John,
Exactly. If Libby can prove he was directed by Cheney or Bush to release certain info, with the implication that it was declassified by executive order, then he may save his own bacon. But at the cost of putting the lie to all the 'Lady Macbeth' condemnations from Bush in the intervening time. If he can't, then he goes to prison. And if he inadvertenly dropped Plame's ID while releasing _different_ info, he still goes to prison.

It all depends on whether Libby is falling on his sword or selling out his bosses. WWSD? (What Will Scooter Do?)

By: legion

legion — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 16:26:08 +0000

James,
You did, I just didn't think McG got that far :-)

And on a less snarky note, what with all the phone calls between the WH and reporters to try and feed this disinfo out to the public, could these jokers not make _one_ phone call to the CIA?

All it's gonna take is a few more GOP Congresscritters to get pissed off about being lied to & used, and there'll be a full-on demand/subpoena for the transcripts of the Bush-Cheney siamese twin deposition...

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 15:08:37 +0000

Documents in their entirety are classified at and to be treated as classified to the highest level of any single classified element they contain, unless otherwise noted. Thus, a four-paragraph document with one Secret paragraph is classified at the Secret level. The other three paragraphs, while not classified themselves, must be treated as Secret.

But...

In an effort to prevent needless or excessive classification, sometime in the late 80s a new rule, requiring paragraph-by-paragraph identification was instituted. That four-paragraph document would now have three paragraphs tagged (U) and one tagged (S).

The entire document remains Secret, but the individual (U) paragraphs may be further disseminated. The (S) paragraph may not be disseminated and the document in its entirety may not.

If the drafter of the subject document was doing his/her job correctly, then the pertinent paragraph about Plame was deemed Secret--it was tagged, after all. But lots of people simply tag every paragraph--inappropriately--with the highest classification of any paragraph automatically.

The legal assumption, however, is that it was correctly tagged Secret.

There are other tags used for documents--like "No Foreign Distribution" or "No Contractor Distribution", but they don't come into play here, apparently...

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:23:08 +0000

legion: Right. I thought I covered that?

By: legion

legion — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:15:07 +0000

Or that information in a paragraph marked (S) is, in toto, considered classified Secret until formally declassified by a competent authority. But rules aren't for Republicans...

By: McGehee

McGehee — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:02:08 +0000

...there is no particular reason a reader would think the classification was derived from Ms. Plameâ��s status or involvement.

Other than, y'know, a maniacal obsession with destroying George W. Bush.