The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (PL97-200, 50 U.S. Code Secs. 421–426) is a United States law which makes it a federal crime to intentionally reveal the identity of an agent who one knows to be in or recently in certain covert roles with a U.S. intelligence agency. The United States Code (U.S.C.) is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal Law of the United States. ... Law topics overview List of areas of law List of legal topics List of legal terms List of jurists List of legal abbreviations List of case law lists List of law firms Further reading Cheyenne Way: Conflict & Case Law in Primitive Jurisprudence, Karl N. Llewellyn and E. Adamson Hoebel, University...

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Intelligence Identities Protection Act

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History

The law act written, in part, as a response to several incidents where CIA agents' identities were published for political reasons. Such disclosures were arguably protected speech under then existing law. In 1975 CIA Athens station chief Richard Welch^[1] was assassinated by the Greek terrorist group November 17 after several lisitngs by a magazine called CounterSpy, edited by Timothy Butz. A local paper checked with CounterSpy confirm his identity.^[2] The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Richard Skeffington Welch (1929—December 23, 1975), a Harvard educated classicist, was a CIA Station Chief murdered by the radical leftist organization Revolutionary Organization 17 November. ... Terrorism is the unconventional use of violence for political gain. ... November 17 (also known as 17N or N17) was a self-proclaimed Marxist Greek organisation listed in U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. ...

Another major impetus to pass the legislation was the activities of ex-CIA agent Philip Agee during the 1960s and 70s, whose book CIA Diary and publication Covert Action Information Bulletin (CAIB) blew the cover of many agents. Some commentators say the law was specifically targeted at his actions, and one Congressman, Bill Young, said during a House debate "What we're after today are the Philip Agees of the world." The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Philip Burnett Franklin Agee (born 1936) is a former CIA agent and author who published a controversial book, Inside the Company: CIA Diary, detailing his experiences in, and the operation of, the eponymous agency. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... CovertAction Quarterly (named CovertAction Information Bulletin until 1992) is a American publication focused on and critical of the US Central Intelligence Agency. ... Charles William Bill Young, also known as C.W. Bill Young, (born December 16, 1930), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1971, representing the 10th District of Florida (map). ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ...

The law passed the House 315–32, with all votes against coming from Democrats. The law passed the Senate 81–4, with the opponents being Democratic Senators Joseph Biden, Gary Hart, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Republican Senator Charles Mathias. The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States. ... The Democratic Party, founded in 1792, is the longest-standing political party in the world (unless one considers the British Conservative Party to be an extension of the much older Tories). ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... Senator Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. ... Gary Hart - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Pat Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was a U.S. Senator, ambassador, and academic. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Democratic Party. ... Charles Mathias, Jr. ...

As of July 2005, there has only been one successful prosecution involving the statute. [1] In 1985, CIA agent Sharon Scranage was sentenced to five years, and served 8 months, for giving the names of other agents to her boyfriend in Ghana. [2] 2005 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

Valerie Plame affair

There is an ongoing investigation being conducted by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into whether this law and others were violated in the identification of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in a 2003 newspaper column by Robert Novak. Former Vice Presidential chief of staff I. Lewis Libby has been indicted by Fitzgerald on counts of perjury and obstruction of justice, but not under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Other figures involved in the investigation include White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, and reporters Bob Woodward, Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper. The matter of whether Plame's identity was covered under the act has not been settled. Ongoing events • Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal • Atlantic hurricane season • Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak in Asia • Bali bombings investigation • California wildfires • DeLay political financing scandal • Dengue outbreak in Singapore • FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 • Fuel prices • Gomery Comm. ... Patrick J. Fitzgerald Patrick J. Fitzgerald, JD (born December 22, 1960) is an American attorney and the current U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. ... For detail on the political scandal, see Plame affair Valerie Plame with her husband Joseph C. Wilson, photographed after her CIA identity became public knowledge. ... A Columnist is a journalist who produces a specific form of writing for publication called a column. ... Robert David Sanders Novak (born February 26, 1931) is an American journalist and political figure. ... I. Lewis Scooter Libby, Jr. ... Perjury is lying or making verifiably false statements under oath in a court of law. ... Obstruction of justice, in a common law state, refers to the crime of offering interference of any sort to the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American political consultant, and (as of 2005) U.S. President George W. Bushs senior advisor, chief political strategist, and Deputy White House Chief of Staff in charge of policy. ... Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein Robert Upshur Bob Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is one of the best-known journalists in the United States, thanks largely to his work in helping uncover the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixons resignation, in a historical journalistic partnership with Carl... Judith Miller on October 27, 2004. ... Matthew Cooper Matthew Cooper is a reporter with TIME magazine, who, along with New York Times reporter Judith Miller was held in contempt of court and threatened with imprisonment for refusing to testify before the Grand Jury regarding the Valerie Plame exposure scandal. ...

See main articles at: Plame affair, Plame scandal timeline Valerie Plame and Joseph C. Wilson in 2004. ... The Plame affair or the CIA leak scandal refers to the disclosure that Valerie Plame Wilson is a United States Central Intelligence Agency operative in a newspaper column by Robert Novak on July 14, 2003 and subsequent alleged cover up. ...

Notes

• 1⇧ Washington Post. Obituary: Richard S. Welch. 29 Dec. 1975, A16. ISBN 01908286 "The murder od Richard S. Welch, CIA station chief in Athens, was the entirely predictable result of the disclosure tactics chosen by certain American critics of the agency as part of their effort to destroy it." [3]
• 2⇧ Morton H. Halperin and National Security Issues—A Partial Record, Congressional Record, United States Senate - July 15, 1994, pg. S9109.

Reference

• Laird Wilcox, The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups, Chapter Four: Political Research Associates, A Study in "Links and ties", Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 122-123. ISBN 0-993592-96-5

See also

• Espionage Act of 1917

The Espionage Act of 1917, passed shortly after entering World War I, made it a crime, punishable by a $10,000 fine and 20 years in jail, for a person to convey antipathy with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the...

External links

• Text of the law at Wikisource:Intelligence Identities Protection Act.
• Inquiry May Hinge on What the Leaker Knew (New York Times article)