A CIA officer has been fired for media leaks.
"The officer has acknowledged unauthorized discussions with the media and the unauthorized sharing of classified information," said CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano. "That is a violation of the secrecy agreement that everyone signs as a condition of employment with the CIA."
One official called this a "damaging leak" that deals with operational information and said the fired officer "knowingly and willfully" leaked the information to the media and "was caught."
Most likely, the story that was leaked was the "black sites"/rendition allegation, which still remains unproven. The officer in question, still unnamed, failed a polygraph test and confessed.
Sources have told FOX News in the past that the CIA prisons/black sites story was referred to the Justice Department for investigation. That story involved the transfer of terror suspects to other countries for questioning. Some believe the CIA transferred suspects to secret prisons in countries where torture is more acceptable; secret prisons and many harsh methods of interrogation would be illegal on U.S. soil.
The administration has refused to address the question of whether it operated such secret sites that may be illegal under European law, citing the constraints of classified information.
CIA agents obviously don't operate under such constraints.
Update: Since the allegation comes as part of a defence strategy, it should obviously be taken with a grain of salt, but this is nevertheless an interesting development:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaked national defense information to a pro-Israel lobbyist in the same manner that landed a lower-level Pentagon official a 12-year prison sentence, the lobbyist's lawyer said Friday.
Prosecutors disputed the claim.
The question is also who is permitted to disclose secrets, and who is not.
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