I'd say Rove would beat the rap if he were charged criminally.
I have stumbled through the statute and I can see it has enough twists and turns in it that it requires some quite specific actions before someone could be found guilty of an offence. I think that it's reserved for situations where someone maliciously reveals the identify of an agent and endangers that agent. For example, if person A knew that the Third Secretary in the US Embassy in Nowhereland was really a CIA agent engaged in intelligence-gathering and other clandestine acts inconsistent with their diplomatic duties and told the hosting government of this fact I think person A would probably come under this statute. I don't think the kind of leak that allegedly came from Rove is imagined in this statute.
Also Tico wrote way back in the beginning of this thread:
Quote:If one does not commit a violation of the law because one did not commit all of the elements of the charge, that does not constitute a technicality. An example of "beating the rap on a technicality" might be because one's confession is thrown out because Miranda Warnings weren't read ... or if there was a technical defect with a search warrant, which tainted some evidence in a particular matter.
There are no "technicalities" in a case. If the law isn't complied with (eg in a fail to give a Miranda warning) and on that point a bunch of evidence is ruled inadmissible then that's what follows from a failure to obey the law by the police or investigating authority. That's how people's rights are protected, ensuring that the law is complied with by the police or other investigational agencies. Same goes for my country. If we allowed the police too much leeway then pretty soon those safeguards would fall. heck I've lost a case or two on what I wanted to call a "technicality" because it salved my feelings of failure but in reality I screwed up so I lost the case.
Anyway as I said, I think there may be no criminal case However as to the politics, the horse is at the gate and staring at that big empty paddock. Anything could happen with this.
