10.31.2005
Leak Led to Threats Against CIA Agent, Husband Reveals (Independent.co.uk)
By David Usborne in New York
Published: 31 October 2005
After her role as an undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency was leaked to journalists in 2003, Valerie Plame not only had to scramble to protect her colleagues and her operations, she was also faced with threats to her own safety, Joe Wilson, her husband, has disclosed.
In his first interview since charges in the CIA leak scandal were filed on Friday against Lewis Libby, 55, who has quit as chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, Mr Wilson told the CBS current affairs programme60 Minutes that his wife felt like she had been "hit in the stomach" when her cover was blown.
The indictment sets the stage for either a trial next spring or a plea bargain that almost certainly would mean jail time for Mr Libby. A source close to the investigation told Time magazine that the prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and Mr Libby's lawyer discussed possible plea options before the indictment was issued last week. But the deal was scotched because the prosecutor insisted that Mr Libby do some "serious" jail time.
Several intelligence specialists spoke out at the weekend about the gravity of what had been done to Ms Plame, who joined the CIA as a case officer two decades ago, when she was 22 years old. It's the "moral equivalent to exposing forward-deployed military units," said Arthur Brown, who retired in February as the CIA's Asian Division chief.
(More ... Independent Online Edition > Americas) ¶ 19:12
Published: 31 October 2005
After her role as an undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency was leaked to journalists in 2003, Valerie Plame not only had to scramble to protect her colleagues and her operations, she was also faced with threats to her own safety, Joe Wilson, her husband, has disclosed.
In his first interview since charges in the CIA leak scandal were filed on Friday against Lewis Libby, 55, who has quit as chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, Mr Wilson told the CBS current affairs programme60 Minutes that his wife felt like she had been "hit in the stomach" when her cover was blown.
The indictment sets the stage for either a trial next spring or a plea bargain that almost certainly would mean jail time for Mr Libby. A source close to the investigation told Time magazine that the prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and Mr Libby's lawyer discussed possible plea options before the indictment was issued last week. But the deal was scotched because the prosecutor insisted that Mr Libby do some "serious" jail time.
Several intelligence specialists spoke out at the weekend about the gravity of what had been done to Ms Plame, who joined the CIA as a case officer two decades ago, when she was 22 years old. It's the "moral equivalent to exposing forward-deployed military units," said Arthur Brown, who retired in February as the CIA's Asian Division chief.
(More ... Independent Online Edition > Americas) ¶ 19:12
