Rove was required by law to CONFIRM any info was declassified

[Cocoa]

before further disseminating the info.

This potentially undermines his "I heard it from the media" defense.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/07/16/rove-agreement /

<snip>

Question 19: If information that a signer of the SF 312 knows to have been classified appears in a public source, for example, in a newspaper article, may the signer assume that the information has been declassified and disseminate it elsewhere?

Answer: No. Information remains classified until it has been officially declassified. Its disclosure in a public source does not declassify the information. Of course, merely quoting the public source in the abstract is not a second unauthorized disclosure. However, before disseminating the information elsewhere or confirming the accuracy of what appears in the public source, the signer of the SF 312 must confirm through an authorized official that the information has, in fact, been declassified. If it has not, further dissemination of the information or confirmation of its accuracy is also an unauthorized disclosure.

[acmejack]

1. indeed it does

And the enforcers of secrecy are a very serious bunch.

[whatelseisnew]

2. keep this kicked ya'll

[Justice]

3. Everyone has focused on just the one statute, but John Dean

said, there are lots of statutes that Rove could be found in violation of.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Dean is experienced and a good lawyer as well . . . nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Here's the link to Dean's article

Here's the link to Dean's article:

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20050715.html

[KittyWampus]

4. so you're saying he should've notified CIA that Plame Had Been Uncovered

[Cocoa]

5. even Novak checked with the CIA

he was under not under the same legal obligation that Rove was, but he checked with the CIA before publishing his column.

Of course, Novak IGNORED the CIA's telling him not to publish the info, but at least he checked with them.

[many a good man]

8. Penalty

From the comments section on the same site:

U.S. Code as of: 01/06/03
Section 371. Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States

If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense
against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any
agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of
such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy,
each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than
five years, or both.
If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object
of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such
conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for
such misdemeanor.