Mary O. McCarthy: Associates Back Her Up, Say She Would Not Have Leaked Secrets

Associates are backing up Mary O. McCarthy's claim she was NOT the source of WH leaks in her job as CIA operative for which she was fired just days before her retirement last week:

WASHINGTON - The CIA officer fired for unauthorized contacts with the media denies being a source for The Washington Post's award-winning story on secret CIA detention centers.

"She did not leak any classified information, and she did not have access to the information apparently attributed to her by some government officials," Washington lawyer Ty Cobb, who is representing veteran CIA analyst Mary McCarthy, said Monday.

A law enforcement source, speaking last week on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, linked her to the Post's story about the CIA's covert sites in Eastern Europe and elsewhere used to hold terror suspects. The story caused an international clamor last fall.

The CIA said McCarthy was fired on Thursday for knowingly disclosing classified information, but gave no details. Cobb said she hopes to find a way to clear up the allegations and move on.