Covert or Not

Once and for all:

"But whether Libby told Miller that Plame was a covert operative is apparently not relevant to the question of whether he disclosed classified information. The very fact that she worked at the CIA was apparently classified; according to a July 21 Washington Post report, a 2003 State Department memo -- which was likely read by top administration officials during a trip to Africa -- earmarked a section mentioning Plame as classified, even though it "did not describe her status as covert." Presumably an undercover CIA agent would not pose as a non-clandestine CIA analyst in order to hide her undercover status, and indeed, Plame's cover was reportedly as a private consultant. So Libby and others could not avoid legal liability by claiming that they did not out Plame as a covert operative, but merely disclosed that she worked at the CIA."