Former CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson said the Bush administration disclosed her covert status in 2003 for ``purely political motives'' and ended her work searching for weapons of mass destruction ``in an instant.''
By Jay Newton-Small
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Former CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson said the Bush administration disclosed her covert status in 2003 for ``purely political motives'' and ended her work searching for weapons of mass destruction ``in an instant.''
Wilson, giving her first public testimony on the matter, said she felt ``hit in the gut'' when she knew her cover was blown. Less than two weeks ago, Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of lying in an investigation of whether the government leaked her name to retaliate against her husband, Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson. Her status was revealed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak.
Top White House aide Karl Rove ``clearly was involved in the leaking of my name'' and still has security clearance, Wilson testified. She said her name and reputation were ``carelessly and recklessly abused by both the White House and the State Department. My exposure arose from purely political motives.''
``We at the CIA have always known that we could be exposed by foreign agents,'' she said. ``It was a terrible irony that my name was disclosed'' by members of the Bush administration.
With Libby's likely appeal and a civil lawsuit filed against U.S. officials by Wilson and her husband, the Central Intelligence Agency leak controversy is a continuing headache for a White House already suffering from public disapproval for President George W. Bush's performance in office and handling of the Iraq war.
more
