I hate myself for getting back into this nonsense, but...

"Toensing testified that Plame was not a covert operative as defined by the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which she had helped draft as a Senate staffer in 1982, if only because she was not stationed overseas for the CIA the past five years."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101788.html

and the follow-up...
"Seated at the Washington Gridiron dinner March 31, I was interrupted by a man crouching at my feet who was dressed Air Force formal with the four stars of a full general. It was CIA Director Michael Hayden, who complained to me profanely that my column had misrepresented him in the Valerie Plame Wilson case. Denying he favors Democrats, Gen. Hayden indicated to me he had not authorized Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman to say Mrs. Wilson had been a "covert" CIA employee, as he claimed Hayden did, but only that she was "undercover.""

" At the Gridiron, I heard Hayden tell me he actually referred to Mrs. Wilson only as "undercover." He apparently said the same thing to Toensing, who testified as a Republican-requested witness at the March 16 hearing. On April 4, she wrote Hayden that in three Gridiron conversations "in front of different witnesses you denied most emphatically, that you had ever told" Waxman "that Valerie Plame was 'covert.' You stated you had told Waxman he could use the term 'undercover' but 'never' the term 'covert.'""

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/RobertDNovak/2007/04/12/cia_politics

>She was covert. Rep. Henry Waxman (Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) reading a statement from CIA Director General Hayden regarding Valerie Plame's role and work.
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>http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070316104030-43341.pdf
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>"General Hayden and the CIA have cleared these following comments for today's hearing."
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>"At the time of the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14,2003, Ms. Wilson's CIA employment status was covert."
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>"This was classified information."
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>"Her employment status with the CIA was classified information prohibited from disclosure under Executive Order 12958."
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>"Some have suggested that Ms. Wilson did not have a sensitive position with the CIA or a position of unusual risk... I want to make clear, however, that any characterization that minimizes the personal risk Ms. Wilson accepted in her assignments is flatly wrong."
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>"Ms. Wilson worked on some of the most sensitive and highly secretive matters handled by the CIA."
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>"Ms. Wilson served at various times overseas for the CIA."
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>"Ms. Wilson's work in many situations had consequences for the security of her colleagues, and maintaining her cover was critical to protecting the safety of both colleagues and others. "
>_____________________
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>CUMMINGS: Ms. Wilson, first of all, thank you for your service. Ms. Wilson, even today your work for the CIA is so highly classified that we’re not permitted to discuss the details, but we can clarify one crucial point — whether you worked undercover for the CIA. You said your position was covert but I’ve heard others say you were not covert. In fact, one of the witnesses who will testify a little bit later, Victoria Toensing, is making that same argument. In an op-ed that appeared in the Washington Post on February 18, she says it quite bluntly. She says, “Plame was not covert. She worked at CIA headquarters and had not been stationed abroad within five years.” I know there are restrictions on what you can say today, but is Ms. Toensing’s statement correct?
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>WILSON: Congressman, thank you for the opportunity. I know I’m here under oath, and I am here to say I was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. Just like a general is a general whether he is in the field in Iraq or Afghanistan, when he comes back to the Pentagon, he is still a general. In the same way, covert operations officers who are serving in the field, when they rotate back to a temporary assignment in Washington, they, too, are still covert.
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>CUMMINGS: Is it possible that Ms. Toensing had more information than you do about your work or had access to secret document that you don’t?
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>WILSON: I would find that highly unlikely, congressman, because much of that information about my career is still classified.
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>CUMMINGS: On Wednesday night, I know that Mr. Waxman, our chair, and Congressman Reyes, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, spoke personally with General Hayden, the head of the CIA. And Mr. Waxman told me that Gen. Hayden said clearly and directly, “Ms. Wilson was covert.” There was no doubt about it. By the way, the CIA has authorized us to be able to say that. In addition, I understand that Chairman Waxman sent his opening statement over to the CIA to be cleared and to make sure that it was accurate. In it, he said, “Ms. Wilson was a covert employee of the CIA.” “Ms. Wilson was undercover.” The CIA cleared these statements. I emphasize all of this because I know that there are people who are still trying to suggest that what seems absolutely clear isn’t really true and that you weren’t covert. And I think one of the things we need to do in this hearing is make sure there isn’t any ambiguity on this point. Just three more questions, did you hold this covert status at
>the time of the leak? Did you — the covert status at the time of the leak?
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>WILSON: Yes I did, congressman. Yes.
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>CUMMINGS: Number two, the Identities Protection Act refers to travel outside the United States within the last five years. Let me ask you this question. Again, we don’t want classified information, dates, locations, or any other details. During the past five years, Ms. Plame, from today, did you conduct secret missions overseas?
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>WILSON: Yes I did, congressman.
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>CUMMINGS: Finally, so as to be clear for the record, you were a covert CIA employee and within the past five years from today, you went on secret missions outside the United States. Is that correct?
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>WILSON: That is correct, congressman.
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>CUMMINGS: I want to thank you and I hope this committee now has cleared up the issue of covert, whether Ms. Plame was a covert agent, and I yield back.
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>>As I responded to Alan:
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>>It is only a crime if the CIA agent is covert or has been covert in the past 5 years. The same holds true for those working in other governmental capacities in COVERT positions. She was NEITHER. It was much longer than that and she had a desk job since. Even if he had divulged her as a CIA agent (which he technically did not do), it was not illegal nor was it treason. It was however, DESPICABLE and he should have been fired and barred from working for the government in the future.
>>
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>>>>>This hold thing is about nothing and so was the CIA outing crap. It just ate up tax payer's money for nothing.
>>>
>>>What?? Just so you know, revealing the identity of a CIA operative in the field is a crime. It is called Treason and severy penalized. Do you have any idea of the seriousness of the act? In this particular case, we may never know how many people were tortured and lost their lives because they talked to her years ago.