Opinion ID: 2448
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Initial Public Disclosure of Valerie Wilson's CIA Employment

Text: During his 2003 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush told Congress that [t]he British Government has learned that [Iraq's dictator] Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on the State of the Union, 1 PUB. PAPERS 82, 88 (Jan. 28, 2003). A public debate ensued regarding the accuracy of this assertion. See generally Wilson v. Libby, 535 F.3d 697, 701-02 (D.C.Cir.2008) (describing debate), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 2825, 174 L.Ed.2d 552, 77 U.S.L.W. 3506 (June 22, 2009); In re Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 438 F.3d 1141, 1143 (D.C.Cir.2006) (same). On July 6, 2003, The New York Times published an op-ed piece written by plaintiff Valerie Plame Wilson's husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former foreign service officer who had represented the United States in various capacities, including deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq from 1988 to 1991 and U.S. ambassador to Gabon from 1992 to 1995. See JOSEPH WILSON, THE POLITICS OF TRUTH: INSIDE THE LIES THAT PUT THE WHITE HOUSE ON TRIAL AND BETRAYED MY WIFE'S CIA IDENTITY 518 (2004). In his op-ed piece, Mr. Wilson disclosed that, in 2002, the CIA had sent him to Africa to assess the accuracy of intelligence indicating that Niger had sold uranium yellowcake to Iraq in the late 1990s. See Joseph C. Wilson IV, What I Didn't Find in Africa, N.Y. TIMES, July 6, 2003, § 4, at 9. Mr. Wilson stated that, based on his investigation, he determined that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place, and that he had so informed the CIA in March 2002, nine months before President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address. Id. Mr. Wilson suggested that if the Bush Administration ignored his report because it did not fit certain preconceptions about Iraq, then a legitimate argument can be made that we went to war under false pretenses. Id. Eight days later, syndicated columnist Robert Novak commented on Mr. Wilson's oped piece and, in doing so, revealed Ms. Wilson's employment with the CIA: [Joseph] Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me that Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the intelligence regarding Iraq's attempted uranium purchases. Robert D. Novak, Mission to Niger, WASH. POST, July 14, 2003, at A21. [3]