McCarthy a hero or villain? It depends whom you ask

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a city that lives for the whispered nugget of information, fired CIA analyst Mary McCarthy is viewed as both hero and villain.
Ask CIA Director Porter Goss, and he will tell you an officer he fired committed a grave offense damaging national security by talking to reporters and knowingly disclosing classified information.
Not so, argue McCarthy's defenders, who contend that she had a stellar government career and is merely the victim of a Bush administration witch hunt for leakers.
Associates, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of her sensitive legal situation, say the CIA authorized McCarthy on a number of occasions to talk with reporters. However, the details and timing remain unclear, including whether that was ever true after Goss took over in September 2004.
CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck declined to comment on McCarthy specifically, citing the agency's obligations under the Privacy Act. However, Dyck said the officer in question was not terminated for having authorized conversations with reporters. "It was for having unauthorized conversations with reporters," she said.
It is not yet clear precisely what McCarthy did that led to the firing. In a statement on Thursday to CIA employees, Goss said that "a CIA officer has acknowledged having unauthorized discussions with the media, in which the officer knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence, including operational information."
Last week, government officials indicated McCarthy was involved in providing information to reporters that included material used in The Washington Post's award-winning report on a covert network of CIA prisons.
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