Not at all. The CIA director is NOT now nor in the future, under current law, the decider on who is legally Covert. His opinion is JUST that, an opinion. He has a duty to state his opinion ( or more likely an opinion designed to not ruffle feathers of the non political employees at CIA) BUT a COURT has to make the determination as to legal status. Otherwise there is NO reason to have a law that doesn't state " the Director of the CIA determines who is Covert"
Can YOU show us where in the Law that it states a court determines the status of a CIA employees classified status, and not the government agency that employs the agent?
If YOU ever BOTHERED to read the laws regarding outing a covert agent or the laws surrounding the leaking of classified information you would know
that the law being discussed as being broken is not a law defining a covert agent, it is a law requiring the protection of such classified identies of such agents. (The Intelligence Identities Protection Act)
Keep avoiding the question... If as Care has insisted and as the Prosecutor kept claiming, Libby outed Plume why wasn't he charged? Why only get him on the lesser charges? Care has INSISTED there are a host of witnesses to testify that not only did he out her as a CIA operative BUT specifically as a COVERT one.
All I can say, as I have said, is that Fitzgerald said that Libby's obstruction of Justice prevented him from getting to the bottom of this...
In the trial evidence was produced that showed that scooter Libby revealed Plame's identity to Judith Miller Prior to the Novak article.
In the trial evidnce are memos regarding Wilson and plame that were classified, and shown to libby and known to Libby a MONTH ahead of the outing, with hand writen notes from the vp and Libby discussing on how to handle this info with the press, the angle that Wilson was sent on the trip by his wife, implying nepostism and implying Plame had an agenda to fill just 5 months after 9/11 against the administration.
As I have said on another thread, perhaps after disclosure, it was too sensitive to pursue it further? I honestly do not know.
Of course the ludicrous claim is belied by the fact all one had to do was call Langley and ask if she worked there and the answer was " Why yes, she is employed by the CIA"
Covert does not mean secret...it means in disguise of sorts.
Novak said she was a covert operative in the WMD counter/ intelligence division or something like this...he did not report that she was just some analyst if memory serves.
So let me get this straight, if I am a foreign government and I suspect that Joe Dirtbag , the US embassy guy is REALLY a CIA plant, all I need do is call Langley with his name and they will freely tell me that YES indeed, he works for the CIA? All I need do if I think Sarah Rottencrouch , that representative of Company Bongsellers is really a CIA agent, all I need do is call Langley and they will freely admit that YES she is an Employee of the CIA?
If she was supposedly an employee of a "Front " Company for the CIA WHY would the CIA admit she was really an employee of the CIA? The switchboard at Langley outed her AND disclosed the fact her "Front" company was bogus.