In a clear indication that the Plame/Wilson cohorts are desperate in the waning days of the Fitzgerald investigation they again have teamed up with allies in the media to float classified information in the press. This AP article lists three CIA cohorts of Plame’s confirming her actual (classified) role at the CIA.

Miller disclosed this weekend that her notes of a conversation she had with I. Lewis ”Scooter” Libby on July 8, 2003 stated Cheney’s top aide told her that the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson worked for the CIA’s Weapons Intelligence, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Control (WINPAC) unit.

Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, never worked for WINPAC, an analysis unit in the overt side of the CIA, and instead worked in a position in the CIA’s secret side, known as the directorate of operations, according to three people familiar with her work for the spy agency.

The three all spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the current secrecy requirements of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s grand jury investigation into the leak of Plame’s identity in 2003 to the media.

Note all three are covered under Fitzgerald’s gag order for discussing the case – which means they testified in some manner. The candidates to be ‘the three’ rogues (now they are violating the prosecutor) are Wilson, Plame and Larry Johnson – among others like the VIPS gang.

This is desperate on two fronts. The first is the obvious risk in going against the prosecutor this late in the game in another leak to the press on classified information (confirming her position is considered leaking classified information).

These people are also desperately trying to grasp at ludicrous straws – with the help of big name democrat hacks:

”The fact that the information is inaccurate may make it of even greater interest to the grand jury than accurate information,” said Lance Cole, former Democratic counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee and now a law professor at Penn State Dickinson School of law.

”Accurate information presumably can come from any number of sources. If he got it from a particular document or in a meeting and that document or notes of that meeting are the only place that the inaccuracy is present, then that establishes the source,” Cole said.

So he passed on inaccurate information, which would not violate the statute because that section of the CIA is not necessarily covered?? How slick!!

But be warned – Miller’s notes can be read as follows: Libby never divulged Wilson’s name or Valerie’s position, but Miller knew already and made her notes consistent with that foreknowledge.

”My notes contain a phrase inside parentheses: ‘Wife works at Winpac.’ Mr. Fitzgerald asked what that meant,” Miller wrote.
…
”I told the grand jury that I believed that this was the first time I had heard that Mr. Wilson’s wife worked for Winpac,” she wrote.

Miller is clearly indicating she heard more than one person make the claim Valerie worked at WINPAC. It would be a case of great irony if Valerie and Joe Wilson initially told all the press they talked to (and they talked to them all it appears) that she worked at WINPAC as an analyst to avoid tipping her true cover!

Here is another version of the story from Reuters:

A former intelligence official said Plame did not work at Winpac but for the CIA’s clandestine service, known as the directorate of operations. The former official, who is familiar with Plame’s activities at the CIA, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

I am pretty sure this is Larry Johnson, who shows up constantly in this story at the Wilson’s side and is probably one of the three talking to AP. He is typically referred to as a ‘former official’. It also is an indicator that Johnson has a post up at TPMCafe posted this evening on this very subject.

By Larry Johnson
…
Valerie Plame was a “covert agent” as defined by the law.
…
Oct 17, 2005 — 10:01:34 PM EST

What a coincidence!

But Rueters is not buying the whole story like AP did – they only reference the positive side of this detail to Libby’s case:

It is unclear how the discrepancy might affect the investigation. The former intelligence official said the WINPAC error could bolster Libby’s defense, if he was charged with intentionally outing a covert operative, since most of Winpac’s employees are not undercover.

“It may actually be helpful to him by showing he was acting under a misimpression and it wasn’t an intentional outing of a known undercover officer,” the official said.

What is truly interesting in this is the possibility that Fitzgerald finally announces his conclusion this week, possibly Wednesday

The possible discrepancy comes amid signs the federal prosecutor investigating who leaked the identity of Wilson’s wife, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, will announce whether he will bring charges in the case as early as Wednesday, people close to the case said.
…
Fitzgerald’s office said on Monday it had decided to announce any decisions in the Plame case in Washington, rather than in Chicago, where Fitzgerald is based.

And there is this telling line in the Reuters story:

It is unusual for Fitzgerald’s office to offer comment on the case and the statement led some observers to wonder if it might be a signal a decision was imminent or that Fitzgerald was trying to increase pressure on potential targets to cut a deal.

Well, maybe it worked in a way he was not expecting – through leaking by Wilson’s and Plame’s cohorts to the press. The very same crime being investigate!. Maybe Fitzgerald pushed the CIA rogues into a last ditch, desperate and telling move that exposed them? Did they tip their hand?

Make sure to check out Mac Ranger’s latest post here.

UPDATE:

Pincus comes out swinging – as expected. The end must be near. I would expect to see Leiby, Kristof and Corn as well if the Cabal is still working together. Pincus is fantasizing that Cheney is now the focus of the investigation because he was trying to find out who was leaking to the press….

Well, yeah, that makes sense. Pincus heard the rumor about the coming announcement, and like his CIA cohorts, ran out his summary effort to take down Bush and Cheney:

In a move people involved in the case read as a sign that the end is near, Fitzgerald’s spokesman yesterday told the Associated Press that the prosecutor planned to announce his conclusions in Washington, where the grand jury has been meeting, instead of Chicago, where the prosecutor is based. Some lawyers close to the case cited courthouse talk that Fitzgerald might announce his findings as early as tomorrow, though hard evidence about his intentions and timing remained elusive.

Stay tuned – the End of The Plame Game is near.

UPDATE II:

Check out Tom Maguire’s latest post here.

And Mac Ranger is hearing there will could be a Plame Game Part Duex for all those leakers who work or worked in the CIA – and possibly their media sources.