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Judge tosses out ex-spy's lawsuit against Cheney in CIA leak case
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Ex-spy had accused members of Bush administration of leaking her identity Judge tosses out lawsuit from Valerie Plame, husband Joseph Wilson
Judge says the couple failed to show the case belongs in federal court
Plame's identity as a CIA operative was exposed in July 2003
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by outed spy Valerie Plame and her husband against Vice President Dick Cheney and other top Bush administration officials.
A judge threw out the lawsuit from ex-spy Valerie Plame and husband Joseph Wilson.
Plame had accused members of the Bush administration of leaking her identity. To disclose classified information knowingly to unauthorized recipients is a crime, and Plame's position was classified.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said that the lawsuit raises "important questions relating to the propriety of actions undertaken by our highest government officials" -- but in a 41-page decision, he found that Plame and her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph, Wilson failed to show the case belongs in federal court.
Plame's identity as a CIA operative was exposed in July 2003 after Wilson publicly challenged a key argument in the Bush administration's case for the invasion of Iraq. The couple argued that the disclosure destroyed her career and was done to retaliate against Wilson, who said the administration had "twisted" the evidence used to justify the invasion.
The exposure ignited a criminal probe that led to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's conviction in March on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents investigating the leak. President Bush commuted Libby's 30-month prison term earlier this month, calling it "excessive," but let the verdicts stand.
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Lea Ann McBride, Cheney's spokeswoman, said "the vice president is pleased that the court has dismissed the lawsuit."
There was no immediate reaction to the order from Plame and Wilson. In addition to Libby and Cheney, the lawsuit also named former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser.
During the course of the leak probe, Rove and Armitage were found to have been the two "senior administration officials" columnist and former CNN contributor Robert Novak cited in identifying Plame as a CIA operative. Both cooperated with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation, and neither was charged with a crime.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/19/cia.leak/index.html