Funmurphys: the Blog

More Mary McCarthy

Okay, first up, Mary McCarthy's lawyer says his client did not disclose classified information. Something to keep in mind is that as far as I can tell, the only official word from the CIA was in an announcement that reportedly said somebody was fired because they had provided classified information to a reporter; I haven't been able to find it on the web, not even at the CIA web site. So far, we have mostly anonymous sources at the CIA providing a variety of info. So if Ms. McCarthy is not accused, let alone not guilty, then my apologies.

Second up, when the NYTs was reporting on the Swiftboat Vets, they put together this very handy chart with all the political donations, and connections, however tenous, to the Bushes or any high profile Texas politician. I'm wondering, where is the chart for Ms. McCarthy? Heck they can't even get the amount of her contributions correct. Tom Maguire is so good at finding inconsistancies in news accounts, perhaps he should make up charts like the NYT did on the Swiftboat vets comparing what they said now to what they said then. Heck, why doesn't the NYTs do that more often with politicians, or retired generals?

Mr Maguire also points me to one Larry Johnson, and his analys of how she came to posses the classified info she alleged leaked:

She could find out about secret prisons if Intelligence Officers involved with that program had filed a complaint with the IG or if there was some incident that compelled senior CIA officials to determine an investigation was warranted. In other words, this program did not come to Mary's attention (if the allegations are true) because she worked on it as an ops officer. Instead, it appears an investigation of the practice had been proposed or was underway. That's another story reporters probably ought to be tracking down.

How about this possibility Mr. Johnson -- the program was the subject of a complaint or complaints, but when it was cleared by an investigation, Mrs. McCarthy was not satisfied with that result and so leaked its existance to a friendly press? And she wasn't motivated by patriotism, but partisanship? Isn't that more probable version when you consider that the leak was timed to overshadow Secretary of State Rice's trip to Europe following the election of Andrea Merkel and that she had handled a similar internal disagreement differently? I have to admit that perhaps she handled it differently only because writing a letter didn't achieve anything with her disagreement with President Clinton's administration -- which doesn't excuse here from divulging classified info.

And one last thing to ponder - the CIA did not official release her name. Does this mean that they will be investigating who did, a la Valerie Plame Wilson? Or that whoever did out this CIA agent should get the full Scooter Libby treatment?

I may have to create a CIA scandals category.

UPDATE: It wasn't the New York Times, it was was Mind in the Qatar, yes Virginia, a blog, who has put together the visually catchy chart, AKA the McCarthy Matrix so you don't have to wait around for the NYTs not to put one together.

And while I'm at it, Allahpundit has the best primer on the subject - via FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog.

Posted by Kevin Murphy at April 25, 2006 12:47 PM | Current Events