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.

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