Live Blogging on the hearing on the Oversight Committee Webcast

Notes:

Plame testified that the CIA knew her cover was blown and there was no investigation into that matter. Plame said "career path was terminated prematurely." She could no longer work that she was trained to do such as traveling overseas because her cover was blown. She said that her name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior officials in the WH and State Dept. She accused the Adminstration that they deliberately punished her husband by leakiing her covert name.

Valerie Plame Wilson:

“In the run-up to the war with Iraq, I worked in the Counterproliferation Division of the CIA, still as a covert officer whose affiliation with the CIA was classified,”
“While I helped to manage and run secret worldwide operations against this WMD target from CIA headquarters in Washington, I also traveled to foreign countries on secret missions to find vital intelligence.”

Knodell, WH of Office of Security is speaking with the committee. According to Knodell, the WH never did any investigation into the exposure of a covert's identity: no report, no investigation, or no sanction with the office. Knodell said that the President conducted an "investigation" but Knodell was referring to Fitzgerald's leak investigation. The committee said that thhat Fitzgerald's investigations was months after Plame's cover was blown. The bottom line is that the committee is questioning why the WH and the CIA never investigated in to a covert operative's cover blown. Each committee member is questioning Knodell.

Diane Watson is questioning Knodell.. Knodell was employed with the WH in August 2004. Watson is questioning how Karl Rove learned of a covert operative, Plame. Knodell's office should have investigated that matter. Knodell has said on record that he and his office did not investigation into how Rove obtained the information into Plame.

Van Hollen questioned Knodell about his lack of investigation. He asked why hasn't Knodell started an investigation now. Knodell said that when he gets back to the office that he will take to a senior official to do an investigation.

Another committee is questioning Knodell. Knodell was never briefed about the exposure of the covert identity before he was hired. Knodell said that he is a career employee and reported to Jeffrey Thompson. Thompson left employment and Knodell reports to someone else. Knodell said no one in the WH questioned Karl Rove or any WH officials about the blown cover of the covert operative. Knodell has no idea how Scooter Libby can declassify NIE documents and how the President can selectively declassify documents.

Committee member Ms. Norton played McClellan's gaggle press conference (the same video in which was the gov't exhibit in the Libby case) where McClellan said that he said that no one in the WH was involved in the leak case. Ms . Norton asked Knodell why Rove still carried a security card? Knodell tsaid that Rove wasn;t charged with a criminal act...