I have been trying to follow the Miller story and though I am not fully acquainted with all the facts,however, there is something about the words “Knowingly” and “Covert” that is repeated by Rove’s defense that I do not fully understand and wonder why these two words have been selected and used in a way to suggest that Sec 421 can be used only if someone “Knowingly” passes on such data and that the person has to be actively engaged in a covert op at the time.(Unless I have this all wrong, which is also a possibility) But the definitions below do not exactly fall in sync with what Rove’s lawyer stated .
Maybe I’ll have to wait for the movie to come out in order to grasp this unfolding story and I hope that Rove Inc is in a Federal Pen by that time.
moving right along….
I decided to look at Section 421 regarding identities.
Section 421. Protection of identities of certain United States undercover intelligence officers, agents, informants, and sources
(a) Disclosure of information by persons having or having had
access to classified information that identifies covert agent
Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified
information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses
any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not
authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the
information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the
United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert
agent’s intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be
fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or
both.
(b) Disclosure of information by persons who learn identity of
covert agents as result of having access to classified
information
Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified
information, learns the identify of a covert agent and
intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert
agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified
information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies
such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative
measures to conceal such covert agent’s intelligence relationship
to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned
not more than five years, or both.
(c) Disclosure of information by persons in course of pattern of
activities intended to identify and expose covert agents
Whoever, in the course of a pattern of activities intended to
identify and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that
such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence
activities of the United States, discloses any information that
identifies an individual as a covert agent to any individual not
authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the
information disclosed so identifies such individual and that the
United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such
individual’s classified intelligence relationship to the United
States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than
three years, or both.
(d) Imposition of consecutive sentences
A term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be
consecutive to any other sentence of imprisonment.
Previous [Notes]
Section 426. Definitions
For the purposes of this subchapter:
(1) The term ”classified information” means information or
material designated and clearly marked or clearly represented,
pursuant to the provisions of a statute or Executive order (or a
regulation or order issued pursuant to a statute or Executive
order), as requiring a specific degree of protection against
unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national security.
(2) The term ”authorized”, when used with respect to access
to classified information, means having authority, right, or
permission pursuant to the provisions of a statute, Executive
order, directive of the head of any department or agency engaged
in foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities, order
of any United States court, or provisions of any Rule of the
House of Representatives or resolution of the Senate which
assigns responsibility within the respective House of Congress
for the oversight of intelligence activities.
(3) The term ”disclose” means to communicate, provide,
impart, transmit, transfer, convey, publish, or otherwise make
available.
(4) The term ”covert agent” means –
(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an
intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed
Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency –
(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member
is classified information, and
(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within
the last five years served outside the United States; or
(B) a United States citizen whose intelligence relationship
to the United States is classified information, and –
(i) who resides and acts outside the United States as an
agent of, or informant or source of operational assistance
to, an intelligence agency, or
(ii) who is at the time of the disclosure acting as an
agent of, or informant to, the foreign counterintelligence or
foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; or
(C) an individual, other than a United States citizen, whose
past or present intelligence relationship to the United States
is classified information and who is a present or former agent
of, or a present or former informant or source of operational
assistance to, an intelligence agency.
(5) The term ”intelligence agency” means the Central
Intelligence Agency, a foreign intelligence component of the
Department of Defense, or the foreign counterintelligence or
foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(6) The term ”informant” means any individual who furnishes
information to an intelligence agency in the course of a
confidential relationship protecting the identity of such
individual from public disclosure.
(7) The terms ”officer” and ”employee” have the meanings
given such terms by section 2104 and 2105, respectively, of title
5.
(8) The term ”Armed Forces” means the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
(9) The term ”United States”, when used in a geographic
sense, means all areas under the territorial sovereignty of the
United States and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
(10) The term ”pattern of activities” requires a series of
acts with a common purpose or objective.
I also found this.
Section 403-7. Prohibition on using journalists as agents or assets
(a) Policy
It is the policy of the United States that an element of the
Intelligence Community may not use as an agent or asset for the
purposes of collecting intelligence any individual who –
(1) is authorized by contract or by the issuance of press
credentials to represent himself or herself, either in the United
States or abroad, as a correspondent of a United States news
media organization; or
(2) is officially recognized by a foreign government as a
representative of a United States media organization.
(b) Waiver
Pursuant to such procedures as the President may prescribe, the
President or the Director of Central Intelligence may waive
subsection (a) of this section in the case of an individual if the
President or the Director, as the case may be, makes a written
determination that the waiver is necessary to address the
overriding national security interest of the United States. The
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the
Senate shall be notified of any waiver under this subsection.
(c) Voluntary cooperation
Subsection (a) of this section shall not be construed to prohibit
the voluntary cooperation of any person who is aware that the
cooperation is being provided to an element of the United States
Intelligence Community.