Valerie Wilson Has a Story to Tell, if CIA Will Let Her
VOICE ONE: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. VOICE TWO: And Im Barbara Klein. Our subject this week is women in the spy business.
(MUSIC) VOICE ONE: Valerie Wilson before a US congressional committee Her husband calls her "Jane Bond." Valerie Plame Wilson may not exactly be as famous as the imaginary British secret agent James Bond. But public attention in what became known as the C.I.A. leak case brought an end to her career in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Valerie Wilson has sold her life story for a Hollywood movie project. And she has written a book about her twenty years in the C.I.A. "Fair Game" is supposed to be published in October. But the C.I.A. has moved to block its release.
The agency objects to her listing her dates of service. Officially, they remain classified information even though her employment dates were made public last year by mistake.
VOICE TWO: At the end of May, Valerie Wilson and her publisher brought a civil action over the issue of the dates. The lawsuit accuses the C.I.A. of violating her constitutional right of free speech. It says the C.I.A. demands that large parts of her work be removed or rewritten to hide her government service before two thousand two.
Valerie Wilson says the issue is politics. The C.I.A. says the issue is national security.
(MUSIC) VOICE ONE: People have seen the former operative on television, in newspapers and across the pages of magazines. Some people criticize Valerie Wilson and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, calling them attention-seekers. But it was unwanted attention that "outed" her as a C.I.A. officer.
Newspaper columnist Robert Novak wrote about her in July of two thousand three. It happened a week after her husband criticized the Bush administration over the Iraq war.
VOICE TWO: Joseph Wilson had written in the New York Times about a trip he made to Niger in two thousand two. The C.I.A. sent the retired diplomat to investigate a British intelligence report that Iraq had tried to buy yellowcake uranium from Africa. The material can be used to make nuclear weapons.
Joseph Wilson said he did not find any evidence. He suggested that some intelligence was misused to overstate the threat from Iraq's nuclear weapons program and justify an invasion. VOICE ONE: After his article appeared, officials within the administration told reporters that Valerie Wilson worked for the C.I.A. The C.I.A. says her employment at that time was classified information.
President Bush ordered an investigation into the leak. No one was ever charged with the crime of identifying an undercover operative. But the investigation led to charges against the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Lewis Libby, also known as Scooter Libby, resigned when he was charged in October of two thousand five. He said in court that he was not guilty.
But in March of this year, after five weeks of trial, a federal jury found him guilty of lying to investigators in an effort to subvert justice. The jury found that he lied about what he had discussed with three reporters concerning Valerie Wilson's employment at the C.I.A. VOICE TWO: On June fifth, Judge Reggie Walton sentenced him to thirty months in prison and a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars. The judge later ruled that Lewis Libby cannot remain free while his lawyers appeal the case. He may go to prison in several weeks.
His lawyers say he did not purposely make false statements. They say he could not remember details because he had national security concerns on his mind. Also, his lawyers say they believe that the judge wrongly excluded some of the evidence they wanted to present in his defense.
Supporters of Scooter Libby are urging President Bush to pardon him. Others deplore the idea.
VOICE ONE: After her identity became known, Valerie Wilson moved to another job at the C.I.A. But she told a congressional hearing that being outed had ended her effectiveness as an operative.
She and her husband have moved away from Washington. They now live in the Southwest. But they still have a civil case against Vice President Cheney and, among others, presidential political adviser Karl Rove. The lawsuit accuses them of violating her privacy rights in an effort to punish Joseph Wilson for his criticisms. A judge is considering arguments to dismiss the case.
