Wilson v. Cheney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wilson v. Cheney, 498 F.Supp.2d 74, viz. Valerie Plame Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson IV, ..., Plaintiffs, v. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr., Karl C. Rove, Richard B. Cheney, Richard L. Armitage and John Does Nos. 1–10, Defendants, is a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on July 13, 2006, by Valerie Plame Wilson, also known as Valerie Plame, and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV, against Richard Armitage (individually) for allegedly revealing her identity and thus irresponsibly infringing upon her Constitutional rights and against Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney, Lewis Libby, Karl Rove, and the unnamed others (together) because the latter, in addition, allegedly "illegally conspired to reveal her identity."[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Parties

The plaintiffs in the suit are former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband Joseph Wilson.[3]

The defendants in the suit are I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the Vice President's former Chief of Staff; Karl Rove, White House Chief of Staff to the President; Richard Armitage, former United States Deputy Secretary of State (who was added to the complaint in September 2006[4]); and ten unnamed others.[1] Unlike their charges against Rove, Cheney, and Libby, "claiming that they had violated her constitutional rights and discredited her by disclosing that she was an undercover CIA operative," the Wilsons sued Armitage "for violating the 'Wilsons' constitutional right to privacy, Mrs. Wilson's constitutional right to property, and for committing the tort of publication of private facts.'"[5]

[edit] Dismissal

United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge John D. Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, dismissed the Wilson's lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds on July 19, 2007, stating that the Wilsons had not shown that the case belonged in federal court.[6][7][8][9] Bates also ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction over the claim because the couple had not yet exhausted their administrative remedies.[8] Bates noted that "there can be no serious dispute that the act of rebutting public criticism, such as that levied by Mr. Wilson against the Bush administration's handling of prewar foreign intelligence, by speaking with members of the press is within the scope of defendants' duties as high-level Executive Branch officials," even if "the alleged means by which defendants chose to rebut Mr. Wilson's comments and attack his credibility" were "highly unsavory"; but Judge Bates also acknowledged that the lawsuit raised "important questions relating to the propriety of actions undertaken by our highest government officials."[10]

[edit] Appeal

On July 20, 2007, Ms. Sloan and the Wilsons announced publicly that they had filed an appeal of the U.S. District Court's decision to dismiss their law suit.[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Cary O'Reilly, (Bloomberg L.P.), "Cheney, Rove, Libby Sued by Ex-CIA Agent Over Leak" (Update), Bloomberg.com, last updated July 13, 2006, accessed May 5, 2007.
  2. ^ Eric M. Weiss and Charles Lane, "Vice President Sued by Plame And Husband: Ex-CIA Officer Alleges Leak Of Her Name Was Retaliatory", The Washington Post, July 14, 2007, accessed May 5,.2007.
  3. ^ "Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson Sue Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Scooter Libby": "Valerie Plame Wilson, Joseph Wilson, IV v. I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Karl C. Rove, Richard Cheney, and, as amended, John Does 1–10", FindLaw, July 13, 2006, accessed May 5, 2007.
  4. ^ "Amended Complaint" in Wilson v. Cheney (Civ. A. No. 06-1258 [JDB]), Wikisource, accessed January 10, 2008.
  5. ^ Melanie Sloan, Executive Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), press release, as qtd. in "Armitage Added to Plame Law Suit", CBS News, September 13, 2006, accessed September 25, 2006
  6. ^ Associated Press, "Valerie Plame's Lawsuit Dismissed", USA Today, July 19, 2007, accessed 19 July 2007.
  7. ^ "Judge Tosses Out Ex-Spy's Lawsuit Against Cheney in CIA Leak Case", CNN.com, July 19, 2007, accessed July 19, 2007.
  8. ^ a b Carol D. Leonnig, "Plame's Lawsuit Against Top Officials Dismissed", The Washington Post, 20 July 2007, accessed 20 July 2007.
  9. ^ "Memorandum Opinon", in "Valerie Wilson, et al., Plaintiffs, v. I. Lewis Libby, Jr., et al., Defendants", "Civil Action No. 06-1258 (JDB)", United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 19 July 2007, accessed 20 July 2007.
  10. ^ Qtd. in Matt Apuzzo (Associated Press), ""Plame Lawsuit Dismissed in CIA Leak Case", The Denver Post, July 19, 2007, accessed July 19, 2007.
  11. ^ Joseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust Home Page, [July 20, 2007], accessed July 27, 2007. Cf. "Statement on Ambassador Joseph and Valerie Wilsons' Appeal Filed on July 20", Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), July 20, 2007, accessed July 27, 2007.

[edit] External links