White House Accidentally Outs Kabul CIA Chief

Name included in list of officials for Obama visit
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 26, 2014 6:59 AM CDT
White House Accidentally Outs Kabul CIA Chief
President Barack Obama speaks during a troop rally after arriving at Bagram Air Field for an unannounced visit, on Sunday, May 25, 2014, north of Kabul, Afghanistan.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The identity of the highest-ranking CIA agent in Afghanistan was leaked to the media this weekend—by the White House itself. The error occurred in a list of top officials who were joining President Obama during his visit to Kabul yesterday. The military gave the list to the White House press office, which emailed it to journalists. It ended up in a report sent to some 6,000 people, the Washington Post reports.

A Post reporter noticed that the report referred to a "station chief," indicating a country's top CIA official. He notified the White House press office, and top officials recognized the problem; they sent out a new list, leaving off the name. What's next for the CIA officer isn't certain, the Post notes, but the administration asked the paper not to reveal his identity out of concern for his safety. (More White House stories.)

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