My legal understanding of this issue is that for Rove to have violated the law, *ALL* of the following would have to be true:
1. The agent was on covert (undercover) status at the time;
2. The government was trying to keep her identity secret;
3. Rove knew #1 and #2;
4. Despite knowing #1 and #2, Rove revealed her name intentionally.
Given that the agent was in DC at the time, and not overseas, it's not necessarily a given that she was on covert status. Even if she was a covert agent, I also don't think that they've cleared up whether Rove knew it. And I'm almost positive that no one has established that Rove referred to her by name.
So was Rove an idiot? Yep. Did he break the law? Nope. This isn't much of a story.
Houston Chronicle article
Disclaimer: I voted for Bush, so
clearly I don't know what I'm talking about. I must be part of that Evil Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.
