WASHINGTON, 15 July 2006 — Former CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband, ex-Ambassador Joseph Wilson, told journalists during a packed news briefing at the National Press Club yesterday why they filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing Vice President Dick Cheney, his former Chief of Staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby and presidential adviser Karl Rove of violating their rights by leaking her name and CIA role to reporters, and engaged in a “whispering campaign” to destroy her career.
The Wilson’s say that, after Wilson accused President George Bush of twisting intelligence about Iraq’s pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, Cheney, Rove and Libby conspired to “discredit, punish and seek revenge against the plaintiffs that included, among other things, disclosing to members of the press Valerie Plame Wilson’s classified CIA employment.” “I and my former colleagues trusted the government to protect us in our jobs,” said Plame at a news conference yesterday, adding that it “betrayed that trust. I’d much rather be continuing my career as a public servant than as a plaintiff in a lawsuit.” The lawsuit specifically accuses the White House officials of violating the Wilson’s constitutional rights to equal protection and freedom of speech.
It also accuses Cheney, Rove, Libby and ten unnamed administration officials or political operatives of a “gross invasion of privacy” that could jeopardize the safety of their children and single out Plame for retribution by enemies of the United States.
Critics say her case is weak, as the suit claims Cheney, Rove and Libby put her in danger when they revealed her identify at the CIA. They argue that Plame made herself visible, allowing herself to be photographed for a January 2004 Vanity Fair article and making public appearances — thus endangering herself through her own visibility.
The couple also say the incident has impaired their professional opportunities. Plame has retired from the agency. Their civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, attorney’s fees and costs. The White House declined to comment on the lawsuit, as did the vice president’s office. Plame’s CIA identity was disclosed in a July 14, 2003, column by conservative commentator Robert Novak, who identified the sources as two senior Bush Administration officials and an unspecified CIA source.
Novak’s column appeared just days after Wilson, in a New York Times opinion column, accused the administration of misusing intelligence to justify invading Iraq.
In his 2003 column, Novak wrote that Plame had help initiate her husband’s 2002 mission to investigate reports in Niger that Saddam Hussein had tried to acquire uranium from there. Earlier this week, in his first public comments on the case, Novak identified Rove and CIA spokesman Bill Harlow as two of the sources, but said: “My primary source has not come forward to identify himself.”
The fallout from the Novak disclosure led to an investigation by a special prosecutor into whether the leak violated any laws and whether Plame’s name was leaked as part of a campaign to punish Wilson.
The prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, did not bring any charges in connection with laws that prohibit the willful disclosure of the identity of a CIA officer. But he did indict Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, saying he had testified untruthfully to a grand jury and federal agents.
Libby’s trial is scheduled to begin in February.
