Plame Contemplates Appealing Court Ruling Dismissing Lawsuit

A federal appeals court today rejected a lawsuit by former CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband against three top Bush administration officials. Plame and her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, had sought damages against the officials for allegedly playing a role in publicly identifying her as a CIA agent. Plame and Wilson’s attorney, Melanie Sloan, called the court’s ruling a disappointment and says her clients are reviewing options, including a possible appeal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld by a 2-1 vote a district court ruling dismissing the suit against Vice President Dick Cheney, his chief-of-staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Plame was publicly outed as an undercover CIA agent after her husband criticized the prewar intelligence that led to the United States invasion of Iraq. Plame said the unlawful disclosure impaired her ability to work at the CIA and put her family at risk.

Armitage was later identified as the source who blew Plame’s cover in a 2003 newspaper story. Libby was convicted for obstruction for his role in the Plame leak, but President Bush commuted a 30-month prison sentence.

The appellate court ruling Tuesday said the Privacy Act could apply in the Plame and Wilson case. But the act does not apply to White House officials.

"It is simply unacceptable for top government officials to be unaccountable for such a gross abuse of their power," Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said in a statement. "Here, not only did these officials cause untold harm to two individuals who honorably served their country, they also jeopardized our national security for short term political gain."

Chief Circuit Judge David Sentelle, writing for the majority, said "the litigation of the allegations ... would inevitably require judicial intrusion into matters of national security and sensitive intelligence information."

"We certainly must hesitate before we allow a judicial inquiry into these allegations that implicate the job risks and responsibilities of covert CIA agents," said Judge Sentelle, a President Reagan appointee who was joined by Circuit Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson. The first President Bush appointed Henderson.

Circuit Judge Judith Rogers, appointed to the bench by President Clinton, dissented. Judge Rogers said, among other things, that the district court is more than able to handle the sensitive evidence issues the Plame case would present.