Valerie Plame Affair

[[File:Valerie_Plame_BrownU.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Valerie Plame.]]{{uspolitics}}
The '''Valerie Plame Affair''' is one of [[Politics|political]] intrigue and shenanigans.<ref group=note>RationalWiki's perspective on this is not the [[partisan]] politics so much as the bogus "science" involved in ignoring the [[evidence]] uncovered by the [[US]] government, in order to pursue the administration's agenda.</ref>

A brief outline of the events:
#Valerie Plame was a covert [[C.I.A.]] operative working on weapons proliferation.
#Her husband, Joe Wilson, was sent to Niger by the C.I.A. to investigate the allegation that [[Saddam Hussein]] was supposedly trying to obtain "[[yellowcake]]" uranium ore from Niger.
#[[George W. Bush]] referred to the attempts by [[Saddam Hussein]] to get uranium from [[Africa]] in his State of the Union address after the C.I.A. had already determined that the story was a [[hoax]].
#Joe wrote a ''[[NY Times]]'' op-ed piece<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/1248069063668/what-i-didn-t-find-in-africa.html What I Didn't Find in Africa], ''The New York Times''</ref> debunking the administration's claims regarding the yellowcake - i.e., pointing out that the [[intelligence (government)|intelligence]] showed was not "fact-based."<ref group=note>As usual.</ref>
#Now it gets murky. In what appeared to be political retribution for Joe's op-ed piece, Ms. Plame's identity as a covert op was leaked to the media.  The 
suspected
 pathway was from [[Dick Cheney]]'s office to columnist Robert Novak, among others.
#The illegal<ref group=note>Some argued that it was within the power of the [[POTUS|President]] or [[Vice President]] to declassify any classified information. However, as leak ≠ declassification, and since neither the POTUS nor the Veep were willing to actually claim/own up to having declassified/disseminated the information (or authorised this to be done), this is a pretty esoteric concern.</ref> release of this classified information destroyed Plame's cover, her work and perhaps career, and the cover of the sham company for whom she "worked."
#After many machinations and much political opinion-mongering, Cheney aide [[Scooter Libby]] was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the ensuing investigation of the "outing" of Plame. Many powerful people submitted ''amicus'' briefs calling for leniency. He was fined and given a jail sentence. President Bush commuted the jail sentence, but did not pardon him. In April 2018, however, [[Donald Trump|Trump]] pardoned Libby.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190824083216/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/us/politics/trump-pardon-scooter-libby.html Baker, Peter. "Trump pardons Libby in a case that mirrors his own." ''New York Times'', April 13, 2018. Accessed September 3, 2019.]</ref>
#The most positive result from all this was a 2010 movie, ''Fair Game'', directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts as Plame. According to IMDB trivia, there's a coded message concealed in the end credits.

==External links==
*{{wpa|Plame affair|the Plame affair}}
*[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/valerie-plame-wilson-no-ordinary-spy/ No Ordinary Spy], ''60 Minutes''

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Journalism]]
[[Category:United States politics]]
[[Category:Government incompetence]]
[[Category:Conservative deceit]]
[[Category:Iraq]]

Categories: Journalism, United States politics, Government incompetence, Conservative deceit, Iraq