|
Ex-spy's civil suit dismissed
20/07/2007 09:10 - (SA)
Washington - A US judge on Thursday threw out former CIA analyst Valerie Plame's lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials for disclosing her identity to the public.
Plame has said her career was destroyed when administration
officials blew her cover in 2003 to retaliate against her
husband, Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson.
The couple had sought money damages from the officials for
violating their constitutional free speech, due process and
privacy rights.
US District Court Judge John Bates dismissed the case on
jurisdictional grounds.
Plame's lawyer said she would appeal.
"While we are obviously very disappointed by today's
decision, we have always expected that this case would
ultimately be decided by a higher court," lawyer Melanie Sloan
said in a statement.
Bates said Cheney and the others - his former chief of
staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, White House political adviser Karl
Rove and former deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage -
had a right to respond to criticism.
"The alleged means by which defendants chose to rebut Mr
Wilson's comments and attack his credibility may have been
highly unsavoury," Bates wrote in the 41-page decision.
"But there can be no serious dispute that the act of
rebutting public criticism ... by speaking with members of the
press is within the scope of defendants' duties," he added.
Plame's outing triggered a lengthy criminal investigation,
which resulted in the conviction of Libby on perjury and
obstruction of justice charges in March.
No one was charged with criminally disclosing her
identity.
President George W Bush commuted Libby's 2 1/2-year prison
sentence earlier this month.
- Reuters
|
News
