Being caught in a web of scandals has its benefits. If the latest cover-up or unforced error generates enough outrage, it will ultimately eclipse previous fumbles. Take as a case in point the story of the White House’s inadvertently leaking the name of the CIA station chief in Kabul, Afghanistan. The story was biggish news when it emerged on May 24.
It wasn’t as big as it would have been had a Republican been in the White House. When Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA operative in 2003, the mainstream media couldn’t let go of it, dogging the Bush administration and State Department in print until eventually a sacrificial lamb was found in the person of Scooter Libby.
The “Plame affair” (as it now officially designated by Wikipedia) and the outing of the CIA station chief are only superficially similar — Valerie Plame was a desk jockey in a D.C. suburb, while the more recent slip placed the outee in mortal danger. Luckily for the feckless Obama administration, the VA scandal, Bowe Bergdahl kerfuffle, and loss of Lois Lerner’s emails have all conspired to push the story to a back burner.
Unluckily for Obama, some in the media have long memories. Here is where the story stands, according to a June 10 article in the Independent Sentinel:
The chief has been moved to a safe location but he was forced out of his job. It is not known if he has any job. He is the only one who paid a price for his name being leaked.
White House Counsel Neil Eggleston is reportedly conducting a review. As is Obama’s custom, he is investigating himself. It is a mystery why an extended investigation is needed. It seems simple enough.
The article goes on to note:
The intentional disclosure of the name of a “covered” operative is a crime under the U.S. Intelligence Identities Protection Act but the White House will get away with it and without much fanfare.
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