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Fact Sheet on Karl Rove's Non-Disclosure Agreement

Rep. Henry Waxman has released this fact sheet (pdf)today on Karl Rove's non-disclosure agreement with the White House. In it, Rep. Waxman writes:

The nondisclosure agreement signed by White House officials such as Mr. Rove states: “I will never divulge classified information to anyone” who is not authorized to receive it.

THE PROHIBITION AGAINST “CONFIRMING” CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

Mr. Rove, through his attorney, has raised the implication that there is a distinction between releasing classified information to someone not authorized to receive it and confirming classified information from someone not authorized to have it. In fact, there is no such distinction under the nondisclosure agreement Mr. Rove signed.

THE WHITE HOUSE OBLIGATIONS UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 12958

Under the executive order, the White House has an affirmative obligation to investigate and take remedial action separate and apart from any ongoing criminal investigation. The executive order specifically provides that when a breach occurs, each agency musttake appropriate and prompt corrective action.” This includes a determination of whether individual employees improperly disseminated or obtained access to classified information.

The executive order further provides that sanctions for violations are not optional. The executive order expressly provides: “Officers and employees of the United States Government … shall be subject to appropriate sanctions if they knowingly, willfully, or negligently … disclose to unauthorized persons information properly classified.” There is no evidence that the White House complied with these requirements.

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  • Aww shucks...time to change the story again. Wingnuts...check the update to your talking points ASAP!

    Re: Fact Sheet on Karl Rove's Non-Disclosure Agree (none / 0) (#2)
    by ras on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:16 PM EST
    Great. The criminal investigation is going so poorly that the Left is instead gonna try to use an NDA that would require Bush to fire Rove for "revealing" what appears to have been an open secret anyway. Says it all. Meantime, NYT people have already been sent to jail, one is still there, and more headaches to follow. Next up: the NYT gets whiplash trying to pretend that this whole thing was never worth following up on in the first place. Not that that line of reasoning'll help them much, now. After which, this'll get added to that great pantheon of "fake but accurate" rumors the Saran Wrap Left loves so much: those that are not true, but too good not to cling to.

    Ras, how do you know the criminal investigation is going badly? Are you a member of the grand jury hearing testimony about this scandal? No, didn't think so.

    Re: Fact Sheet on Karl Rove's Non-Disclosure Agree (none / 0) (#4)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:16 PM EST
    Right, and there's also a difference between killing someone and giving a gun to your lover and saying it'd be a fair thing if your pesty husband or wife were not around anymore, but that the gun is just for their protection. This ain't splitting hairs, it's a pathetic attempt at splitting atoms of bullsh*t. This seems merely ANOTHER thing Rove and Co. have violated, broken, shattered, spit on, ignored, you name it.

    I'm waiting for Ras to give us some more insight into this ongoing investigation. I would really like to know just how he is privy to information the grand jury is hearing and yet the media can't get anybody involved to make as much as a peep about day to day testimony. I mean if he is this great of a scooper he either needs to be working at a major newspaper/tv station or at a race track. But from his numerous postings on this topic it appears he may not even be up to the task of shoveling horse offal. But seriously, Ras, did you use to think for yourself and then decide that all the crap the GOP and their minions in the media spew to be of a better quality than the stuff that would have come from your own thoughts?

    ras, "what appears to have been an open secret anyway."

    Appears to you maybe. I think you need to try to get some of your news from somewhere other than Faux(we report/we decide)News. Or, maybe you just need to get out more.

    if they knowingly, willfully, or negligently... disclose...
    Sounds serious enough to me. But then again, my parents taught me to take responsibility for my actions.

    What ever happened to all those dogged defenders of national security who demanded to know what Sandy Berger had stuffed in his socks? I'm sure they must be calling for Mr. Rove's head just as loudly.

    Re: Fact Sheet on Karl Rove's Non-Disclosure Agree (none / 0) (#8)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:16 PM EST
    Anyone who has ever held a security clearance could have told you this. Probably while we have our usual parade of blowhards, PPJ has been silent. Confirming a leak may violate a seperate law than starting one, it is still a serious offense. Only the most seriously deluded seem to be swallowing all of this. Ras, are you near anyone who knows the Heimlich?

    Re: Fact Sheet on Karl Rove's Non-Disclosure Agree (none / 0) (#9)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:16 PM EST
    Quaker, Excellent analogy, although the right will say "Berger pleaded guilty, we have no proof a crime has been committed here." Despite the fact that perception IS reality in public life and they'd never let this kind of perception of a democrat go without all but a burning at the stake. But they can't even step up and ATTEMPT to imagine the shoe on the other foot. It's just not in them to be that self-critical.

    ras wrote: Great. The criminal investigation is going so poorly that the Left is instead gonna try to use an NDA that would require Bush to fire Rove for "revealing" what appears to have been an open secret anyway.
    I for one wish that neo-cons such as yourself would quit referring to “the left” as far as the issue of the whole Plame/Rove thing is concerned on this blog. Your doing so shows that you have a partisan streak a mile wide. (FYI: My use of the term “neo-con” is a slight aimed at people like you who have hijacked the Republican Party and made it an organization that is but a shadow of what the GOP used to actually stand for). As a progressive who visits this board (and by progressive, I mean that I am a person who will actually vote for either a Democrat or a Republican if I think that one or the other has the best answer to a particular problem), I find it highly offensive that you, as an American, can’t put your blind loyalty to the Republican party aside and see that outing of Valerie Plame is bad for us all. You need to check your bias at the door when you enter Talk Left and try to learn something for a change, instead of just carrying your party’s war banner and spewing out neo-con garbage here.

    I find it highly offensive that you, as an American, can’t put your blind loyalty to the Republican party aside and see that outing of Valerie Plame is bad for us all.
    labrynth...ras is canadian believe it or not. But his country pretty much got rid of their version of the Republican Party about ten years ago when they realized what lying crooks they were. Apparently, this so traumatized ras that he had to adopt the U.S. as his political fantasyland.

    Posted by Ernesto Del Mundo at July 15, 2005 02:50 PM labrynth...ras is canadian believe it or not. But his country pretty much got rid of their version of the Republican Party about ten years ago when they realized what lying crooks they were. Apparently, this so traumatized ras that he had to adopt the U.S. as his political fantasyland.
    Thanks for that information, Ernesto. Knowing that ras is a Canadian and as such, is not eligible to vote in this country makes me feel a whole lot better (and allows me to put him on my “pay him no mind” list for his future rants).