One legal technicality that the Plame-outing conspirators seemed to have been scrupulous about claiming to have abided by is to leave open the defense that they didn't know that Valerie Plame was undercover, only that she worked for the CIA. As long as they can claim that didn't know she was undercover, that would let them off the hook on violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.
By now, that's looking a lot like the Baptist teenagers who didn't mean to have sex, so it couldn't have been a sin.
Because it seems that the conspirators may have violated so many other laws, possibly included the Espionage Act of 1917, that their virgin knowledge of Plame's employment won't help them a whole lot.
There are more fingers pointing at Dick Cheney himself now, although Scooter Libby seems to be the designated fall guy at this point. We've got the New York Times reporting: Cheney Told Aide of C.I.A. Officer, Lawyers Report by David Johnston, Richard W. Stevenson and Douglas Jehl 10/25/05 (made available on Web site 10/24/05).
I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, first learned about the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak investigation in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public in 2003, lawyers involved in the case said Monday.
Notes of the previously undisclosed conversation between Mr. Libby and Mr. Cheney on June 12, 2003, appear to differ from Mr. Libby's testimony to a federal grand jury that he initially learned about the C.I.A. officer, Valerie Wilson, from journalists, the lawyers said.
The notes, taken by Mr. Libby during the conversation, for the first time place Mr. Cheney in the middle of an effort by the White House to learn about Ms. Wilson's husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was questioning the administration's handling of intelligence about Iraq's nuclear program to justify the war. ...
Mr. Libby's notes indicate that Mr. Cheney had gotten his information about Ms. Wilson from George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, inresponse to questions from the vice president about Mr. Wilson. But they contain no suggestion that either Mr. Cheney or Mr. Libby knew at the time of Ms. Wilson's undercover status or that her identity was classified. Disclosing a covert agent's identity can be a crime, but only if the person who discloses it knows the agent's undercover status.
Larry Johnson, who knew Plame at the CIA, writes on this story (Who told Dick Cheney? TPM Cafe 10/24/05):
Although the NY Times story reports that Libby's notes indicate that George Tenet told Cheney about Plame, there are some intriguing unanswered questions. For starters it is highly unlikely that George Tenet showed up at the White House and just happened to know the name of Valerie Plame. Someone at the White House asked for it first. Tenet clearly came prepared to respond to a White House request. I'm sure the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, knows who called CIA to ask the question.
Johnson is not happy about the VP: "See Dick. See Dick run. See Dick resign."
Then we've got David Wurmser apparently pointing the finger at fall-guy Libby and another of their comrades-in-warmongering: Cheney aide passed Plame's name to Libby, Hadley, those close to leak investigation say by Jason Leopold and Larisa Alexandrovna Raw Story 10/24/05.
Josh Marshall (10/24/05) links to an Italian news story that identifies Antonio Nucera as a colonel with Italian intelligence who is claimed to have been involved with the forgery of the Nigerien documents. I believe this is the first time this person has been named in the press. But Marshall cautions,:
My experience with this case, going back almost two years now, is that whenever damaging new information was about to come out on the forgery mystery, the Italian government-cum-intelligence agencies put out substantial new information about what happened mixed with disinformation aimed at throwing people off their trail. And when I say 'their trail', I mean the complicity of Italian intelligence in the documents hoax itself.
Steve Clemons at the Washington Note comments on theCheney story: Libby's Source Was Vice President Richard Cheney - Not Journalists 10/24/05. His take:
This is amazing information. You may ask why?
First of all, this means that Vice President Cheney has known all along that he was Scooter Libby's source - and whether Libby had license from him or not to try and slaughter the reputation of Joe Wilson - CHENEY KNEW.
The entire charade of President Bush stating that he wanted to get to the bottom of who leaked Plame's name - and who was involved - is no longer believable at any level. Cheney would not have failed to disclose this to Bush, and Bush played along as if none of his staff were involved. They confessed nothing - accepted no responsibilty - until forced by Fitzgerald.
Cheney is sounding more and more like Aaron Burr all the time. Clemons thinks there's a strong possibility that John "I hate the UN" Bolton was also involved. But, we take what we can get: "For now, we can know that the Vice President of the United States was neck-deep in this affair and knew it ALL along."
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