It All Depends on What the Meaning of the Word 'Naming' Is

The outing of Karl Rove as at least one of the sources that revealed CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity is escalating quickly. The press corps at today's White House briefing was all over the issue so we should be hearing a lot more about this on the evening newscasts and tomorrow's papers.

I found this passage from today's Wall Street Journal to be especially prescient with regard to the next line of defense for President Bush's top political and strategic adviser. "It isn't clear whether Mr. Rove mentioned Ms. Plame by name to Mr. Cooper (the Time Magazine journalist) or even knew she was undercover, which special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald would need to know to prove Mr. Rove violated the law, known as the Intelligence Identities Protection Act," wrote Journal reporter Joe Hagan. "That law says it is a crime to knowingly expose the status of an active-duty CIA agent, and it is unclear whether 'naming' would literally have to be the person's name."

The story continues: "The unmasking of Mr. Rove marks an important milestone in the case. On the one hand, the details of Mr. Rove's discussion with Mr. Cooper -- especially if he didn't name Ms. Plame -- may exculpate him of the intentional, illegal disclosure of the identity of a covert CIA operative. Much will depend on whether Mr. Rove truthfully described any conversations in testimony before the grand jury. If he did, that would clear him of even a perjury charge and any criminal liability."

Over the weekend, Michael Isikoff, the Bassett Hound on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, revealed the essence of Rove's non-naming naming strategy in the latest edition of Newsweek. Here's what Rove said when first confronted about allegations that he was involved in leaking Joe Wilson's wife's name -- Valeria Plame -- to Robert Novak, the conservative columnist who gladly did the White House's bidding. "I didn't know her name. I didn't leak her name," Rove told CNN last year. The memo that Time Magazine's editor turned over to the federal prosecutor last week said that Rove told Cooper that Wilson's "wife" was behind his trip and that any intelligence it generated wasn't to be trusted.

I guess it will all depend on what the meaning of the word "naming" is.