Mary O. McCarthy, she of the unfortunate last name and a veteran CIA employee, has allegedly leaked classified information to the press – or, some would say, blown a whistle. She got fired for this immediately, “stripped of her security clearance and escorted from the building” to paraphrase Tom Ashbrook of On Point. I just listened to mostly reasonable debate on the radio, but was taken aback by the self-righteousness of Senator Kit Bond, as well as of some of the callers. I noticed that one of the callers wouldn’t even call Ms. McCarthy by her name, referring to her as “her” and “she”. (The caller was male and from the south, possibly a coincidence.) Bush supporters practically pissed themselves eulogizing the decisive action taken by the CIA to stop the leaks emanating from it like air from a balloon with holes in its seams. There must be legal consequences for this sort of thing, they said. We’re at war. And even if we weren’t at war, we still need to be able to keep a secret.
I’ve read allegations that President Bush actually authorized a leak of classified information. Can you believe it?!
Question for the class: if the latter allegations are true, what are the legal consequences for the President?
