BBC NEWS
Move to resurrect CIA leak case
Ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame has begun an attempt to resurrect a lawsuit
against officials in the
Bush administration, among them Vice-President Dick Cheney.
She accuses them of plotting to leak her identity in retaliation for her
husband's criticism of
Iraq war policy.
Last year, a US district judge threw out the case, saying the officials
had had the right to
respond to criticism.
Ms Plame's lawyers have now asked a federal appeals court to send the case
back to a judge to
consider its merits.
Ms Plame sued Mr Cheney and three other former senior officials in the
Bush administration.
The others named in the case were Karl Rove, a senior adviser to President
George W Bush at the
time; former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; and former White
House aide Lewis
"Scooter" Libby.
Libby was convicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges in March
last year, but
President Bush intervened earlier that year to spare him from going to
jail.
Libby, Mr Armitage and Mr Rove have since left the Bush administration.
'Highly unsavoury'
Last July, District Judge john Bates dismissed Ms Plame's case against all
the officials,
saying the comments by her husband, former US ambassador Joseph Wilson,
were relevant to the case.
"The alleged means by which defendants chose to rebut Mr Wilson's comments
and attack his
credibility may have been highly unsavoury," he said in the written
ruling.
"But there can be no serious dispute that the act of rebutting public
criticism... by speaking
with members of the press is within the scope of defendants' duties."
No-one has been charged with leaking Ms Plame's identity. It can be a
crime to reveal the
identity of an undercover CIA agent.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7393062.stm
Published: 2008/05/09 17:42:22 GMT
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