Former CIA officer and husband sue Cheney, Libby, Rove over leak
(14 Jul 2006) Washington, DC 14 July 2006 1. Former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson arriving at news conference 2. Plame and Wilson entering room 3. Wilson pourng Plame a glass of water 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Valerie Plame-Wilson, Suing Dick Cheney: "I and my former CIA colleagues trusted our government to protect us as we did our jobs. That a few reckless individuals within the current administration betrayed that trust has been a grave disappointment to every patriotic American. Joe and I have filed this action with heavy hearts but with a renewed sense of purpose. I would much rather be continuing my career as a public servant than be a plaintiff in a lawsuit." Washington, DC - 10 October, 2006 5. Vice President Dick Cheney in Oval Office Washington, DC - 16 May, 2006 6. Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby leaving courthouse with lawyer Washington, DC - 4 May, 2006 7. Presidential adviser Karl Rove entering Federal District Court Washington, DC - 4 May, 2006 8. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald entering Federal District Court FILE 9. Still photograph of Plame and Wilson from Vanity Fair magazine Washington, DC - 14 July, 2006 10. Set up of Constitutional Law Expert Jonathan Turley 11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jonathan Turley, Constitutional Law Expert, George Washington University: "Discovery can be an extremely embarassing process and when it comes to this particular issue, this is not a winner for the White House. The longer this stays in court, the longer it will stay in the media, and the longer it will erode a lot of these concerns. It's very hard for the White House to criticise leakers in The New York Times and other newspapers when it's facing a federal lawsuit dealing with it's own leak of the identity of a covert CIA operative." Washington, DC - 14 July 2006 12. Valerie Plame-Wilson and Joe Wilson leaving news conference STORYLINE: Former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, said on Friday they had decided to sue Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove because they engaged in a "whispering campaign" to destroy her career. In the suit filed Thursday in US District Court, Plame and her husband said that Cheney, Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, leaked her CIA status to reporters to punish Wilson for criticising the Bush administration's motives in Iraq. Speaking to reporters at a news conference on Friday Plame said,"Joe and I have filed this action with heavy hearts but with a renewed sense of purpose. I would much rather be continuing my career as a public servant than be a plaintiff in a lawsuit." Plame's identity as a CIA officer was revealed in a July 14, 2003, article by syndicated columnist Robert Novak. At the time, Plame's job as an operations officer was classified information. Novak's column appeared eight days after Wilson alleged in an opinion piece in The New York Times that the Bush administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify going to war. The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame, who left the CIA in January and is writing a book about what's happened to her. The Wilson's lawyer, Christopher Wolfe, declined to speculate on whether one of the unnamed 10 officials might include President George W. Bush. The civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, attorneys fees and costs. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
