Rove Story Has Legs

Wow. I can now breath a sigh of relief. When President Bush announced his nominee to the Supreme Court many believed that the Rove story may be gone. Bush's timing could not have been better if his intention was to take the pressure off of his friend and advisor Karl Rove.

Fortunately, media outlets are not giving up so easily. The Washington Post is now answering the question that everyone is asking: Was Valerie Plame's identity actively being protected by the government at the time of the leak?

If the answer is yes, then whoever knowingly leaked that information could be held criminally liable and serve up to 10 years in prison. If the answer is no, then the person resposible for the leak can only be thought to have acted unethically.

The Post's answer is YES: Valerie Plame's identity was being protected by the US Government at the time of the leak. This information comes from a source describing the original memo that linked Plame to Joe Wilson. I covered this memo earlier. In the memo, the paragraph that identified Valerie Plame was marked with an "S", for secret (who'd have guessed S meant secret?!).

From the Post article,

[a]nyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information, though that designation was not specifically attached to Plame's name and did not describe her status as covert, the sources said.

Well, the only thing left to determine with certainty is how Karl Rove learned Plame's identity. Was Rove telling the truth when he testified to having learned Plame's identity from journalists? Or, did Rove learn about Plame as a result of this memo? I have my opinions, but I want to hear yours!