State Dept. memo was ‘Top Secret’

July 22, 2005

It may seem like a minor point, but the State Department memo that told top White House aides about Valerie Plame was, in fact, classified “Top Secret.”

A key department memo discussing Joseph Wilson’s Niger trip was classified “Top Secret,” and the passage about his wife’s CIA role was specially marked “S/NF” — not to be shared with any foreign intelligence agencies.

This tells us a couple of things. One, the WH defense that they didn’t know Plame was undercover and that her CIA identity was classified is, definitively, absurd. The next time you hear a White House ally offer the argument, you’ll know he or she has completely run out of ideas for justifying the Bush gang’s behavior.

Two, this report also lays bare what was a fairly silly argument to begin with: the State Department memo included secrets, but was not actually classified. That was the argument floated yesterday on CNN’s Inside Politics by right-wing activist Rich Galen.

Candy Crowley: Today there is a new development. The “Washington Post” reports on a classified State Department memo marked “S” for top secrete in which Plame’s married name appears. If anyone in the White House saw that and still leaked her identity, that person could be in a world of trouble.

Galen: I’m not sure it was top secret. It said secret.

Crowley: Yeah, right. It didn’t say “TS,” it said “S,” secret.

There’s no getting around this. The memo was “top secret” and the information on Plame was so sensitive, it was specifically labeled to make sure her identity was not shared with any foreign intelligence agencies.

The Bush gang saw this memo and leaked the information anyway. All the spinning in the world won’t change that.

Someone(s) will take the fall once the grand jury report is issued–after the grand jury ends in October. The only question now is who. Who will fall on his sword for our small-minded president? And when will Las Vegas start posting names (Rove, Libby, etc.) and odds for taking the fall? My thoughts are on Rove, but my money on Scooter-Boy.

  • Can’t get around the Journal’s subscription wall.

    Yeah, sorry ’bout that. For what it’s worth, the info wasn’t in a stand-alone article, but was included in John Harwood’s Washington Wire, as the lead in a longer list of political tidbits Harwood has learned this week.

    The sentence I posted is literally all of the relevant information.

  • Slip Kid

    I think you’re missing the obvious: No one will fall on his sword because no one in the Bush administration will ever admit any wrong doing. They simply don’t make mistakes because they consider themselves infallible; they are there own reality. Instead they will attack and try to make someone their scapegoat. My guess is Powell, who is no longer on the bus (or plane to Africa, as it were). And Powell will turn around and burn them, just as America rallies behind Powell because they recognize how ill-used he’s been used, how much his honor has been besmirched by his association with Bush.

  • Good point about Powell, AYM. What we need now–in addition to the grand jury report (and some indictments)–are the odds from Las Vegas. Odds to go with our popcorn and our rapt attention.

  • re: “It may seem like a minor point,” sadly, it isn’t minor, due to everything the right-wing media machine is doing to sow doubt on every fact of this story. The growing number of times that we’ve needed to debunk the myth that Valerie Plame’s identity wasn’t a secret is getting thoroughly ridiculous.

    We need to make sure that Karl Rove doesn’t get away with this. He knew about Plame’s covert status, he leaked her covert status to reporters, he committed a crime that threatened national security even more than a BJ, and he needs to be held responsible under the law. Moreso, the administration that is supporting him needs to be held accountable for reneging on its committment to oust any leakers, and its involvement needs to be investigated. But I’m starting to go on…

  • the myth that Valerie Plame’s identity wasn’t a secret is getting thoroughly ridiculous.

    when is some enterprising reporter going to publish all the names of the CIA agents that are “not secret”? I mean if this was such well-known information, lets get it known outside the beltway for all “known” CIA agents. It would seem that only questions such as this will reveal the phenomenal hypocrisy of the “staunch national security” party and put that ridiculous meme to rest once and for all.

  • The paragraph about Plame was marked “secret.” And now we know the entire memo was marked “top secret.”

    That removes any doubt in my mind–by keeping Rove on the White House staff, Shrub is committing an impeachable offense. With apologies to Congresswoman Slaughter, it doesn’t matter how much he knew. Once Rove was identified as Cooper’s source, he should have been fired immediately. Allowing a proven national-security risk to stay in a high-level White House position is a high crime in my book.

  • Powell because they recognize how ill-used he’s been used, how much his honor has been besmirched by his association with Bush.

    While blaming Powell in this situation may be wrong, everything else that Powell has done because of Bush is his fault. He did not have to give that ridiculous presentation to the UN, he chose to.

    I would of course love for Powell to turn on them and burn everyone in the Administration, but I don’t want it to be forgotten that he shilled for Bush just the same as the rest of them.

  • Rambuncle

    I see your point, but I tend to give Powell a bit of slack on this point. I see him as deciding to trust his President and do his duty as he saw it. It was he who was made a dupe by Bush’s lied, and he has to know he was brought on board not because, as a somewhat non-partisan general during a war in Iraq, he might bring valuable experience to the table, but because of his image as a black non-partisan general wrapped in Gulf War glory. They didn’t listen to him. They marginalized him even as they trotted him out to speak the company line. He has to be praying for his chance to regain his honor.

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