Plame & Wilson v. Cheney, Rove & Libby

[Zkribbler]

CNN is reporting Plame and Wilson have filed suit in district court against Cheney, Rove and Libby for exposing Plame as a CIA agent.

[DinoDoc]

I think people stopped caring when it was discovered there was no provable crime committed.

[Sava]

in order to stop caring, one needs to start at some point

[Lord Avalon]

It's the American way, filing a civil suit if nothing happens in criminal court. In this case I think it's valid, her career was derailed by people in the administration. Not sure about success, though, as it's government officials she's suing.

As they say, you can't fight city hall, and you would think it's tougher if it's the exec branch of the whole country.

Yahoo News

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I think people stopped caring when it was discovered there was no provable crime committed.

In this case, there's a difference between "no provable crime committed" (there was), and "no specific defendant can be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

The crime attaches only to the first person to leak Plame's identity - if it was already known, then no crime. There's an affirmative defense in saying "I done did, but I weren't her first 'cuz I only done provided confirmation of whut that Godless libril eleet medea type alreddy knowed." Unless the reporters out their sources and confirm who first leaked Plame's identity, you can't prove who was first.

Typical morally corrupt Bu**** - we'll commit crimes, but hide behind the press to defend ourselves by blaming an unknown and unidentifiable guilty party.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Lord Avalon
It's the American way, filing a civil suit if nothing happens in criminal court. In this case I think it's valid, her career was derailed by people in the administration. Not sure about success, though, as it's government officials she's suing.

It would be interesting to see what damages she is actually suing for. She is still employed presamably within the CIA and presuambly likewise has not been reduced in terms of pay grade. What compensatory damages could she ask for?

Do she and Joe need to claim some monetary damages and if so isn't this more than a bit offset by their sudden rocketing to rock star status with book revenues and Vanity Fair proceeds accruing as well.

edit - Upon a bit more digging Plame chose to resign form the CIA. Damages would stillbe hard to prove as she chose willingly to end her career not necessarily by being forced out.

[Drake Tungsten]

in order to stop caring, one needs to start at some point

QFT

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
It would be interesting to see what damages she is actually suing for. She is still employed presamably within the CIA and presuambly likewise has not been reduced in terms of pay grade. What compensatory damages could she ask for?

Do she and Joe need to claim some monetary damages and if so isn't this more than a bit offset by their sudden rocketing to rock star status with book revenues and Vanity Fair proceeds accruing as well.

edit - Upon a bit more digging Plame chose to resign form the CIA. Damages would stillbe hard to prove as she chose willingly to end her career not necessarily by being forced out.

Nope. The argument is constructive discharge, since revealing her identity completely compromised her ability to perform the position.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Very hard to prove considering her job was being done at the time without need for her to take on covert roles. Her covert status was blown years earlier in the Ames affair.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe


It would be interesting to see what damages she is actually suing for. She is still employed presamably within the CIA and presuambly likewise has not been reduced in terms of pay grade. What compensatory damages could she ask for?

Do she and Joe need to claim some monetary damages and if so isn't this more than a bit offset by their sudden rocketing to rock star status with book revenues and Vanity Fair proceeds accruing as well.

edit - Upon a bit more digging Plame chose to resign form the CIA. Damages would stillbe hard to prove as she chose willingly to end her career not necessarily by being forced out.

She's suing for the emotional distress of allegingly having the lives of herself, her husband and her children put at risk.

& I don't know how "willing" her resignation was. I'd imaging that it's hard to do your secret agent job when you're world famous.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I think people stopped caring when it was discovered there was no provable crime committed.

The investigation is still active.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
Very hard to prove considering her job was being done at the time without need for her to take on covert roles. Her covert status was blown years earlier in the Ames affair.

Proving only matters if you expect to take things to trial. A lot of the time in civil trials, proving is secondary to jury impact. People see what they want to see, and that's a trial lawyer's job - to get them to want to see what you want them to see.

Discovery and law and motion is what tends to be most annoying to defendants. Lots of burned time, legal fees mounting so fast it's like using $100 bills for toilet paper...

Paula Jones didn't prove ****, remember?

[Blaupanzer]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
Very hard to prove considering her job was being done at the time without need for her to take on covert roles. Her covert status was blown years earlier in the Ames affair.

Where did you hear that Ogie? The Ames treacheries weren't public knowledge (just us and the Russkies).

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Blaupanzer


Where did you hear that Ogie? The Ames treacheries weren't public knowledge (just us and the Russkies).

Washington Times article via Bill Gertz.


COurteasy Wikipedia

A Washington Times article by Bill Gertz has asserted that "Mrs. Plame's identity as an undercover CIA officer was first disclosed to Russia in the mid-1990s by a Moscow spy, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity." [13] The article goes on to say that the Cuban government learned of Plame's CIA status "in confidential documents sent by the CIA to the U.S. Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Havana. The documents were supposed to be sealed from the Cuban government, but intelligence officials said the Cubans read the classified material and learned the secrets contained in them, the officials said." This information was used in a court briefing filed on behalf of several news agencies seeking to prevent Judith Miller and Matt Cooper from going to jail for not disclosing their sources to Patrick Fitzgerald and the federal grand jury investigating her exposure by Robert Novak. [14]

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat


Proving only matters if you expect to take things to trial. A lot of the time in civil trials, proving is secondary to jury impact. People see what they want to see, and that's a trial lawyer's job - to get them to want to see what you want them to see.

Discovery and law and motion is what tends to be most annoying to defendants. Lots of burned time, legal fees mounting so fast it's like using $100 bills for toilet paper...

Paula Jones didn't prove ****, remember?

Yeh Yeh yeh jury sympathys and all that. Good thing I'm not on the jury as I have an extremely hard time sympathizing the Wilson's victimization considering the windfall that has befallen them as a result.