Intent vs. Motive: Lessons in Meaning for the Administration

One of the things (one of many) that really bothered me in the whole torture memo saga was the administration's legal analysis that said  a person was only culpable for torturous actions if when they engaged in the torturous behavior, their intent was to cause long lasting harm.

That came to mind when I read this in the NYT:

Mr. Rove told the grand jury in the case that the e-mail message was consistent with his assertion that he had not intended to divulge Ms. Wilson's identity but instead intended to rebut Mr. Wilson's criticisms of the administration's use of intelligence about Iraq....

The defense here is that Rove's intent was to discredit Mr. Wilson, therefore any disclosures about Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife, weren't criminal. But if he intentionally disclosed Plame's CIA status, regardless of his reason for doing so, he broke the  law. They're confusing intent and motive, making them equivalent.

Intent isn't motive - you can be motivated by the best of all possible reasons and still be found to have  intentionally broken the law. That's why if a parent kills a predator who molested their child, they're still arrested. Their motive, or reason, was to protect other children or their own child. But they surely intended to kill the guy in order to achieve their goals.

The official line may be that Rove's intent was to discredit Wilson and therefore he's not in the wrong, but what they're really saying is that Rove's motive was to discredit Wilson. Regardless of motive, if Rove intentionally outed Valerie Plame, he broke the law. The only way he's off the hook is if the disclosure was accidental. And I don't see anyone suggesting that.

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