Plame affair

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The Plame Affair (aka. CIA leak scandal, Plame scandal, or Plamegate1) is the common term for an ongoing United States political scandal which has origins in the Iraq disarmament crisis of late 2002, and concerned the identification of Valerie Plame, wife of retired ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, as a CIA "operative on weapons of mass destruction" in a July 2003 column by conservative pundit Robert Novak.

Related Topics:
¹ - United States - Political scandal - Iraq disarmament crisis - Valerie Plame - Joseph C. Wilson - Pundit - Robert Novak

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Novak's column was published only eight days after the publication of a New York Times op-ed written by Wilson, which was highly critical of the Bush administration's use of "unreliable" "yellowcake" documents as part of its rationale for the Iraq War.

Related Topics:
Bush administration - "yellowcake" documents - Iraq War

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Wilson claims that Novak had conspired with Bush administration sources to expose his wife's identity as political retribution for his earlier criticism. Divulging the identity of an undercover CIA agent is, in some circumstances, a federal crime in the United States.

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The Plame Affair includes the subsequent Independent Council investigation by special appointee Patrick Fitzgerald into the actions of Bush administration officials —including Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Ari Fleischer, and unknown others— regarding their knowledge of the leak of Plame's identity.

Related Topics:
Independent Council - Patrick Fitzgerald - Karl Rove - Scooter Libby - Ari Fleischer

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In addition to Novak, six other journalists are reported to have known Plame's identity before the Novak column was published, including NBC's Tim Russert, and Judith Miller of The New York Times, who spent 85 days in jail for failing to divulge the identity of her confidential administration source to a grand jury.

Related Topics:
NBC - Tim Russert - Judith Miller - The New York Times - Grand jury

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