NY Times: "Leaker Played By The Rules"

According to this NY Times article, Mary McCarthy played by the rules. Here's the money quote:
"We're talking about a person with great integrity who played by the book and, as far as I know, never deviated from the rules," said Steven Simon, a security council aide in the Clinton administration who worked closely with Ms. McCarthy.
She got caught red-handed. How on earth can Mr. Simon say that she played by the rules? If the evidence wasn't overwhelming, Ms. McCarthy wouldn't have gotten fired. The facts speak for themselves. Mr. Simon's comments sound more patronizing than anything else. They certainly don't sound like they're based in fact.
Ms. McCarthy, who began attending law school at night several years ago and was preparing to retire from the CIA, may have felt she had no alternative but to go to the press.
Why would she feel that? That's why they established the Whistleblower Protection Act . Here's the two main sections of the procedure:
Improper conduct

Improper conduct means:
  •  corrupt conduct;
  •  a substantial mismanagement of public resources;
  •  conduct involving substantial risk to public health or safety; and
  •  conduct involving substantial risk to the environment.
The Act requires that the above conduct would, if proved, be a criminal offence or constitute reasonable grounds for dismissal.

Making a disclosure under the Act

A disclosure is an allegation or report of improper conduct. A disclosure may be made verbally or in writing and may be made anonymously. If a disclosure is made anonymously, it is important that it includes sufficient details and evidence to enable the matter to be investigated.

Disclosures of improper conduct by the Department of Primary Industries or its employees may be made to either the Department's protected disclosure coordinator, protected disclosure officer or the Ombudsman.

Please refer to the Department's Whistleblower Procedures which provides a system for reporting and managing disclosures made pursuant to the Act.
Nowhere in there does it say that whistleblowers should contact the media. Furthermore, it gives the whistleblower the option to make the allegation anonymously so that they wouldn't have to fear retaliation. In other words, there's no logical reason why a whistleblower should feel the need to run to the media.
If in fact Ms. McCarthy was the leaker, Richard J. Kerr, a former CIA deputy director, said, "I have no idea what her motive was, but there is a lot of dissension within the agency, and it seems to be a rather unhappy place."
That "unhappiness" has gotten more apparent as the war has dragged on. The CIA has tried undercutting President Bush numerous times.
Larry Johnson, a former CIA officer who worked for Ms. McCarthy in the agency's Latin America section, said, "It looks to me like Mary is being used as a sacrificial lamb."
It appears to me that Mr. Johnson either is just whining or he doesn't think that leaking highly classified information is a big deal. Either way, his statement tells us he shouldn't be taken seriously.

Cross-posted at California Conservative

Posted Saturday, April 22, 2006 8:26 PM

No comments.

Popular posts from this blog

March 21-24, 2016

Image
Mar 21 01:28 SCSU's budget cuts? Mar 21 02:29 When will the Range change? Mar 21 08:54 DFL's Marty in charge of environment Mar 21 11:45 OLA report, DFL & Meyer Associates Mar 23 12:48 Liberals' definition of moderate Mar 23 14:37 DFL activists: Government is racist Mar 24 08:59 IRRRB: Revamping vs. scrapping Prior Months: Jan Feb Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 SCSU's budget cuts? Cuts in Athletics at SCSU - Will it Really Save Money? by Silence Dogood With a $6,000,000 "structural deficit" and the need to "rebuild reserves by at least $3 million," SCSU has a $9,000,000 hole in its' FY17 budget. It doesn't take a Noble Prize in economics to figure out that reductions in expenditures (i.e., cuts) are going to be made at SCSU. On the Wednesday before Spring Break, SCSU President Dr. Earl H. Potter sent an email to the campus community announcing cuts to the athlet
Read more

October 31, 2007

Oct 31 01:01 Media Matter's Alter Ego? Oct 31 03:32 Iraqi Civilian Casualties Dropping Oct 31 10:52 Hillary's Panderfest Blows Up in Her Face Oct 31 13:15 Brod, Emmer Call For Investigation of Mark Ritchie Oct 31 19:43 Ritchie's 'Episode' a Tempest in a Teapot? Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Prior Years: 2006 Media Matter's Alter Ego? One Media Matters-like organization is already too many. It appears as though there's another liberal apologist blog out there. Their name is News Hounds . The post that caught my attention dealt with last weekend's interview of Justin and Darryl Sharraltt on Hannity's America. To say that their post didn't attempt to refute Justin's story is understatement. In fact, they jump right into criticizing Mr. Hannity: Last night's (October 27th) Hannity's America was a strange magazine format which combined stories about mediums and haunted houses
Read more

January 19-20, 2012

Image
Jan 19 02:57 Minnesota Majority report an indictment against Minnesota's election integrity Jan 19 03:41 Ron Paul's Logic Jan 19 08:08 Newt thrives despite Mitt's hatchet job efforts Jan 19 09:19 Potential Game-Changer: Perry dropping out this am Jan 20 05:12 Newt takes Sen. Santorum to proverbial woodshed Jan 20 00:56 ABC, CNN, crawl into bed with National Enquirer Jan 20 04:00 Child Care small businesses file federal lawsuit Jan 20 04:41 Mitt's biggest policy blunder Jan 20 18:58 Gingrich, Reagan re-united Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Newt takes Sen. Santorum to proverbial woodshed Rick Santorum was really feeling it Thursday night. Then he said something that's certain to cause him pain this morning. Here's what he said that got him in trouble: SANTORUM: But you also have to admit that this freshman congressman who wasn't supposed to win a race came and did something you never did, which is blew the li
Read more