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CIA operative sends "the wrong message" overseas, former US intelli gence officials said on Friday. Yes No Have you had a US driver's license for more than 3 years? Yes No Has any driver in your household had 2 or more accidents or moving violat ions in the last 3 years?
Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper told a federal grand jury that pres idential adviser Karl Rove told him that Wilson's wife worked for the CI A, but did not disclose her name.
"What has suffered irreversible damage is the credibility of our case off icers when they try to convince an overseas contact that their safety is of primary importance to us," Jim Marcinkowski, a former CIA case offic er, said. He also criticized Republican efforts to minimize the damage caused by th e leak. "Each time the political machine made up of prime-time patriots and parti san ninnies display their ignorance by deriding Valerie Plame as a mere paper pusher or belittling the varying degrees of cover used to protect our officers or continuing to play partisan politics with our national s ecurity, it's a disservice to this country," he added. Bush vowed this week to fire anyone found to have acted illegally in the controversy, backing away from a broader pledge to dismiss anyone found to have leaked information in the case. CRIMINAL STANDARD Marcinkowski said the criminal standard was too high and that Bush should take action against those involved. "Inaction itself sends the message -- the wrong message," he said. As controversy over the matter heated up in recent weeks, the White House has refused to answer questions about Rove, who is credited with being the architect of the president's election victories. So far, the only person to suffer legal sanction in the case is New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who has been jailed for refusing to testif y about her sources. Congressional Republicans have rushed to defend Rove and criticize Wilson , who took a CIA-funded trip in 2002 to investigate a charge that Iraq t ried to buy nuclear materials in Africa, and later accused the Bush admi nistration of exaggerating the Iraqi weapons threat. They said Rove is a "whistleblower" because Wilson told lies about the trip and he was tryi ng to set the Time reporter straight. Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst who said he was a registered Republic an, spoke harshly of the criticisms of Wilson and efforts to minimize hi s wife's job at the CIA. And it could stop in a heartbeat if the president would simply put a stop to it -- he hasn't," Johnson said. White House officials have sought to put the controversy behind them pend ing the outcome of a federal investigation. But the matter continues to dog the administration, with key Bush aide Ka ren Hughes facing questions from reporters on Friday after testifying on Capitol Hill.
Time Magazine journalist Matthew Cooper speaks during a hearing on re porters' shield legislation at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC July 20, 2005. Cooper told a federal grand jury that presidential adviser Karl Rove told him that Joseph Wilson's wife w orked for the CIA, but did not disclose her name.
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