Nonsense Defense

The standard defense today seems to be that no crime was committed because Plame wasn’t actually an undercover operative. Novak said:

“….According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operator, and not in charge of undercover operatives’…

The strange shill who they had on Crossfire to defend the Bush administration on this (who also claimed that because Plame was still alive, there wasn’t any credence to the story!) said something about Plame being a “glorified secretary.”

Can someone explain logically why the CIA would refer the matter to the Justice Department if Plame wasn’t undercover? Is it up to the Justice Department to determine the definition of “undercover?”