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Comment by raylu | Hacker News Reader

But for their sources? Am I missing something or is that obviously not OK?

The press believes it is not ok, and some of them have spent time in jail to avoid revealing their sources. There are no special protections from a legal perspective, however.

It's allowable. In fact I thought last decade some reporter went to prison for years for "contempt of court" for refusing to comply with a valid subpoena (but I forget the name).

Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to out Bush administration sources who outed Valerie Plame's status as a covert operative as political retribution.

Yes, that's the one, thanks.

Lewis Libby did not out Valerie Plame's status. It was reporter Robert Novak who did. It was also never 'leaked' as political retribution.

"In late August 2006, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage revealed publicly that Novak had based his disclosure of Mrs. Wilson's CIA identity on then still-classified information that Armitage initially gave him while Armitage was still serving in the State Department." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair_timeline

That is an interesting new definition of "out", where telling a reporter doesn't count, but the reporter's story does.

The CIA assumed in the first half of the '90s that Aldrich Ames burned her covert status, so she was withdraw from that role long before any of this happened. Just another desk bound "operative" in McLean, Virginia, where there's a highway turnoff sign to the HQ.

I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Outing a covert agent also risks outing other resources in the area, or sources and methods. In any case, it was clearly not a good idea for Scooter Libby to reveal her identity to Bob Novak.

First:

"In any case, it was clearly not a good idea for Richard Armitage to reveal her identity to Bob Novak."

Let's keep the established facts straight.

Otherwise, since you're ignoring my statement that she was no longer a covert agent when this happened, I'm not sure what's the point of your reply.

The point of my reply is that it remains dangerous to publicly out a covert operative even after they've been pulled back to a desk job.

Richard Armitage is also accused of leaking Plame's identity, and first, but that didn't make it less of a crime for Libby to do so as well.

She wasn't the first. It happens every few years - it's sort of a badge of honor for reporters.

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