DailyKos: Speaking bout Plame CIA status privately illegal? (Lechliter)

[Hissyspit]

Diary from DailyKos yesterday:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/11/19/204259/16

Deciphering the Plame investigation: An Old Hound's New Hunt
by agentcooper
Sat Nov 19, 2005 at 06:42:59 PM PDT

There is lots of nice stuff to read in this piece from Greg Sargent at the America Prospect (via the analysis of one astute Gerald Lechliter):

In the home stretch of the 2004 presidential campaign, Lechliter, a retired army colonel from Delaware with a bit of spare time on his hands, wrote a 32-page analysis of George W. Bush's military records that showed that Bush had shirked his duty. Lechliter sent it to The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof, who wrote a column, "Missing in Action," that called Lechliter's missive "the most meticulous examination I've seen of Mr. Bush's records." Lechliter helped revive the story, and his analysis was subsequently cited in publications all over the country.

- snip -

Lechliter's most interesting conclusion is this: Contrary to what some pundits have said, it may in fact have been a violation of federal regulations for senior administration officials -- even those who did not disclose her identity -- to privately discuss Plame's identity among themselves. Intriguingly, Lechliter also concludes that Fitzgerald could, if he chose to, recommend administrative disciplinary measures against those officials, even if they have not done anything clearly illegal.

- snip -

Here's where it gets good:

The press -- and Fitzgerald -- has mostly focused on whether a criminal act occurred when one or more of these officials passed the info to reporters. But Lechliter argues that a perhaps more important question is this: Have the above officials violated federal rules by privately sharing classified information with each other? Lechliter argues, compellingly, that there's little doubt that the above officials had no "need-to-know" this information. Therefore, he continues, one or more of them may have violated the executive order simply by passing the information on to a colleague without a "need-to-know" it.

MORE

[Toots]

1. Duhhhh

:shrug:

[meg]

2. Exactly!!!!

If we had any reporters in MSM worth a pinch of salt, the ramifications of leaking Plame's name would be clearly understood by all.

Better late than never getting the information out.