So one day after Robert Novak comes clean and tells the world that he learned about Joe Wilson's wife through an inadvertent remark during a long interview with his primary unnamed source, someone "not a political gunslinger," and someone suspected to be Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State under Colin Powell and one day after he also said that Karl Rove did not supply a name or try to "out" Plame in anyway and that the CIA did, here comes "our gal Val" filing a civil suit against .... drumroll please ... Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby.
WASHINGTON — The CIA officer whose identity was leaked to reporters sued Vice President Dick Cheney, his former top aide and presidential adviser Karl Rove on Thursday, accusing them and other White House officials of conspiring to destroy her career.
This couple are a couple of narcissistic freaks. Val would do better to file divorce papers against her eogtistical and blabbermouth husband, Joe Wilson, than to continue this farce against Dick Cheney, et al. Afterall, it is big mouth Joe who published his wife's name and started the whole brouhaha in the first place.
Related:
Wowie Zahawie! (Christopher Hitchens)
Backing up a day to Robert Novak's article, this article by Clarice Feldman that appeared at Real Clear Politics is a must read for context on the whole mess known as Plamegate.
The Fitzgerald case falls apart
I take it that the nod to Novak signals the long Fitzgerald circus is breaking up the tents and moving on, having succeeded only in tying up the time and money of the hapless White House staffers whom he enmeshed in this preposterous long-running carnival of misadventure and misdirection. His accomplishments consist of smearing the reputation of one of the key warriors against terror, the brilliant and hard-working Lewis Libby, and the added burden on an already pressed White House staff.
That the circus was about to close was obvious during the discovery proceedings in May. During those hearings, Libby's counsel argued that he should be entitled to notes not yet provided to him (because not in the Prosecutor's possession). In argument, that counsel argued from what he did have that there was much more in Time's and the New York Time's possession that was exculpatory to his client to which Libby was entitled. For example:
Plame Game - Answered Prayer Mac says: "There is a God"
Joe And Val Suing To A Best Seller AJ Strata asks: "And is anyone surprised to see leftwing nut Erwin Chemerinsky on the Plame Team? Check out the very last thing on the very last page."
Breaking: Valerie Plame Files Suit Lorie Byrd says: "For those who have not been following the story this week, Wizbang has had the best coverage in the blogosphere. See here, here, here, here, here and here for a primer."
And speaking of publicity, let's not forget Joe Wilson's own egotistical entry in Who's Who:
Here's what's inside the book siting on that desk...
Melvin Schuetz from Baylor's Moody Library forwarded Joseph Wilson's bio from the 2003 edition of Who's Who in America [Volume 2 (L-Z)]. He notes:
- Wilson's entry carries over about 5 lines to the next column, which is why it cuts off in mid-sentence at the end. The relevant text is "m. Valerie Elise Plame, Apr. 3, 1998," which not only appears in the 2003 edition, but ALL editions from 1999-2005!
So, via Who's Who, the name "Valerie Plame" has been associated publicly with Joe Wilson since the Clinton era - nice secret... ***
Jay Tea (Wizbang) makes the point that being in Who's Who and listing spouse and children is almost a requirement for someone in Joe Wilson's "ambassadorial" position.
Who's Who is, to be blunt, an ego stroking for the rich and famous and powerful, as well as those who want to be. Its main use is as a source of information for the press, like Robert Novak, who might want to contact some of these folks who like to be thought of as "movers and shakers."
In that context, it is entirely logical that Joseph Wilson would submit his personal and contact information to Who's Who. But why did he mention his wife?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that having Valerie Plame's name listed in Who's Who was no violation of CIA security. In fact, it was probably recommended.
Spies don't live in a vacuum. They don't sit quietly in safe houses until they are summoned to duty, when they carry out their missions and then return to base. They live in homes. They have families. They have friends. They look, walk, talk, eat, sleep, and do everything just like everyone else.
So it's impossible to make spies invisible. Normal people don't just vanish. So what do you do?
You make them normal. You make them indistinguishable from non-spies. You make them look as average, as mundane, as boring as possible. You do absolutely nothing to call attention to them.
This may all be true, but once one lists himself in Who's Who with CIA spouse's name, can those same two people claim "invasion of privacy?" Seems a no brainer to me.
The world is at war and these fools bring this lawsuit. Another 15 minutes of shame.
JOM has two three four posts going and all the comments sections are buzzing: A Wilson Civil Suit? and Novak Speaks Out and Snark is a Tell and The Wilson Civil Suit - All Applaud
Bring It On Baby! (Kesher Talk)
pLamegate, part 2 (UPDATED) (Sister Toldjah)
Bring It On Baby! (Abracadabrah)
And Clarice Feldman, Washington, DC attorney, writes in a comment at JOM:
What a coincidence--there is a new book deal--and it was announced on the same day as this suit:
"Ex-CIA Officer Finds New Memoir Publisher
Thursday, July 13, 2006
BY HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer
NEW YORK — Former CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose outing led to the indictment of a White House official, has agreed to write her memoirs for Simon&Schuster, weeks after a reported seven-figure deal with the Crown Publishing Group fell through.
"It will be a very interesting book by a key figure of our time," Simon&Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg said Thursday.
Financial terms were not disclosed and no publication date has been set. In early May, Crown announced that it would publish Plame’s book, but the two sides could not agree on a final contract."
I have to think Fitz does not like this one bit.
“Former CIA Officer Valerie Plame and Husband Sue Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove Over Leak”
I eagerly await any and all cross-examination of Plame, Wilson, former CIA agents like Larry Johnson, etc.
And of course, the question we have to ask is, if Cheney, et al., had truly “outed” Plame, why did not Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald bring indictments against them?
Plame Sues Cheney, Rove, Libby, Their Moms Sweetness and Light may be kidding about the Moms but asks:
How has Plame been damaged again? And does she really want to go through "discovery"?
And is it really a good idea to use your next door neighbor (who specializes in "internet law") as your attorney?
It sounds like her good pal Larry Johnson and ace journalist Jason Leopold must be advising her.
Taking A Stroll Through The Garden Of Half-Truths
This is one of those moments when one wonders what color the sky is in another's world.
Civil Suit Leaked in October (Seixon) For those unfamiliar with VIPS and why I, for one, want to see complete exposure of this rogue group who is doing so much damage to our intelligence capabilities with their constant leaks, Seixon is one of a handful of bloggers who has a handle on the interconnecting web of this group.
The civil suit uses evidence that seems to have come from a source close to the Wilsons in what seems like a setup.
On October 26, 2005 Richard Sale, a reporter for UPI, wrote an article that was oddly only featured at Truthout, presented by Larry Johnson who is a regular contributor at the now infamous liberal news source. Johnson is a member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, a group founded by Ray McGovern (a contributor for the LaRouche publication Executive Intelligence Review) early on in 2003 to compel government officials to reveal damaging information about the Bush administration. There’s evidence to suggest that this group has been involved in a concerted effort to propagate damaging news stories in liberal publications, often with false information and wild speculation.
The article by Sale, his last one on the Plame investigation, was titled “Aides to Be Indicted, Probe to Continue” and was riddled with inaccuracies, as even the title shows. I asked Mr. Sale about this article back in May, and he conceded that much of it had turned out to be completely inaccurate. Sale asserted that VIPS, as far as he knew, were not sources for this story, because he had no idea what VIPS even was. Interestingly enough Sale is good friends with Patrick Lang, a former intelligence official who appears to be a member of VIPS. He stopped writing about the leak case because he had been burned on this story by his sources, which is quite commendable. However, the recent filing of the civil suit brings up the question, who were Sale’s sources for information relating to the leak case for this article?
The Plame Complaint (Red State) Some interesting information here.
6. The initial issue in the case, before the legal sufficiency of the allegations and before any discovery is taken, is whether some or all defendants (or other interested parties) will ask for a stay or dismissal of the litigation. There are three bases for doing so. One, the liberal quotation from the indictment underscores the fact that this suit overlaps substantially with the subject of a pending criminal trial. Fitzgerald may well intervene to ask for a stay of all proceedings - he won't want his trial witnesses deposed in a civil suit. Second, Dick Cheney in particular has duties as the Vice President, including dealing with an unstable and dangerous world potentially lurching into another war on top of the two-front war we're already fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under Clinton v Jones, there's no absolute bar to such a suit but the district court can balance the intrusion of the litigation, among other factors - here, with the case focusing on Administration foreign policy, the level of intrusion could be significant. And third, there's the state secrets privilege, described extensively in this opinion (later upheld by the DC Circuit) dismissing claims by Sibel Edmonds, who charged retaliation by the FBI relating to her work as a translator of national security documents. Basically, if a civil suit would involve discovery of national security information (such as, for example, details of any covert activities by Plame, to say nothing of discovery directed at Cheney), the court can dismiss it in the greater national interest. The Bush Administration has been loath to press the envelope on the kinds of legal privileges asserted by the Clintons to deflect personal scandals (as opposed to expanding the rights of the Executive Branch more broadly) but the desire to get this lawsuit out of the way may compel them to seek a stay or dismissal on this basis.
Sheer Hell! How Else to Describe the Life of Hero Joe Wilson?
Joseph Wilson and wife Valerie Plame have suffered enough!
They have lived in fear long enough.
They have had their privacy invaded long enough.
They have suffered enough significant damage for far too long.
Coming out of their shell...
Valerie and Joe at the Tribeca Film Festival in May 2006.
and also
The Wilson-Plames Forced to Bring Suit Against Dick & Karl
Amazingly, through all of this intense anguish, it was only through support from their friends...
...That the Plame-Wilsons were able to make it through this most difficult period.
Val, Joe: Time to Fold 'Em When Even O'Donnell Says Your Case 'Very Weak'
Valerie? Joe? Are you listening? Let me offer some well-intentioned advice. When liberal Larry O'Donnell - he of the infamous anti-Swifty meltdown - goes on Keith Olbermann's Countdown and calls your lawsuit 'very weak' and even the Olber-meister won't ride to your defense, it's time to fold your tent, toss in your hand, throw in the towel and quietly slink away.
Can You Spare A Dime For Joe And Valerie Wilson's Bogus Suit?
I thought I had seen the height of brazen behavior when I saw news of Valerie Wilson's lawsuit. I was wrong. Ankle Biting Pundits has the story of the Joeseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust. I can't find the words, but Bull Dog Pundit had a few at ABP:
I don't think I've ever seen something quite as ballsy as this website in which our favorite media-whoring Bush haters Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie are asking people to contribute to them for the bogus lawsuit they filed today.
Keep in mind that Valerie Wilson just sold her silence for $2.5 million in a book deal. The first thought that comes to my mind is how does she expect to win damages in a lawsuit when she and Joe became rich and famous beyond their wildest dreams, even though Pat Fitzgerald found no one committed a crime by allegedly "outing her".
The Plame Lawsuit - Plenty Of Laughs To Go Around
Whoa boy. I cannot tell you how floored I am that Joe and Valerie Wilson have decided to sue pretty much everyone over their supposed "outing" in the media. I mean they have both displayed a large amount of common sense and intelligence……
Ok, seriously now. This lawsuit which can be found here is the biggest joke I have seen come from the left side of the aisle in quite some time. You really need to read the whole thing to understand what a field day the defense will have with this case…if it ever sees the light of day, which it will not. Yes, I am calling it here and now. This will NEVER see the light of day in court. Can you imagine what the defense is going to do just in the discovery phase along?
Check out some of the outright falsehoods and lies:
And if you have read or even given a cursory look at the different links in this post, you can't help coming away with the knowledge that the liar in Plamegate is Joe "Suffering from NPD" Wilson. But Val doesn't get a pass either. Her career was virtually over with the CIA when she got "outed" by Aldrich Ames and when her records got sent to the Cubans. In fact, her desk job at Langley was probably the one way she could stay with the Agency until her government retirement kicked in. And anyone who thinks that after she came off disability for her bout with post partum depression there would be any "secret" jobs or "covert" activity in her future is dwelling in fantasyland. And let us not forget that she is a trained liar. I also have a personal theory that those who go into the "spy" business or any type of risky business love living on the edge, they need the rush.
UPDATE:
Valerie 'Flame' Wilson Files 'Double Exposure' Suit Over the top, but very funny too.
Robert Novak Answers YOUR Questions Just a sample:
It seems to me that if your primary source were an honorable man, he would have immediately stepped forward to explain himself and clear the record. His failure to do the right thing has created terrible problems for others, injured his party, and his president. I would be interested in your comments.— THOMAS (Jackson, WY)
ROBERT NOVAK: I think you have a good point.
Can you explain the incident involving Mr. Wilson’s "friend" that happened to run into you on the street. What did you and him discuss? What is your impression of the situation? I appreciate the way you have handled yourself through this whole ordeal. You are a true journalist! — JUDY
ROBERT NOVAK: I foolishly answered questions about the case by a stranger who stopped me on the streets of Washington. He turned out to be a friend of Wilson who immediately went to Wilson's office to report after our conversation. Some people think this was set up by
Wilson, but I have no evidence of this. Thanks for the compliment.
Val would rather cut off her arm Yeah and Alex Baldwin was leaving the country and, and, and ... ::eyes rolling::
We all know by now who has and still is behind the Plame and Wilson show.
Yet in a name - Ray McGovern, member in residence and founder of VIPS.
(Look for more on VIPS here in the coming weeks. This group is extraordinarily destructive and needs lots and lots of sunshine.)
Like an aging and failing movie star, Plame is flailing for attention. What can you say about Joe, a man that would file a report with the CIA and Congress and immediately go out and write a totally different version for the Terrorists Times. He assumed everyone was as stupid as he but found out that wasn't true. He' nothing more than a look at me a** with a failed career.
They are right about one thing, they had better get all they can from a lying book since they couldn't get a job slinging burgers in the future. But as all lefties say, it's for the children. LMAO
Posted by: scrapiron | 15 July 2006 at 08:55 AM