Wilson v. Cheney

"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." Cary O'Reilly, (Bloomberg L.P.), [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1.WTguNE05U&refer=home "Cheney, Rove, Libby Sued by Ex-CIA Agent Over Leak" (Update)] , "Bloomberg.com", last updated July 13, 2006, accessed May 5, 2007.] Eric M. Weiss and Charles Lane, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR2006071301092.html "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.]

Parties

The plaintiffs in the suit are former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband Joseph Wilson. [http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/iraq/wilsonlibby71306cmp.html "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.]

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 [ [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Amended_complaint_9-13-06.pdf "Amended Complaint"] in Wilson v. Cheney (Civ. A. No. 06-1258 [JDB] ), "Wikisource", accessed January 10, 2008.] ); and ten unnamed others. 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.'"Melanie Sloan, Executive Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), press release, as qtd. in [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/13/politics/main2006236.shtml "Armitage Added to Plame Law Suit"] , "CBS News", September 13, 2006, accessed September 25, 2006]

Dismissal

United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge John D. Bates 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.Associated Press, [http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-19-plame-lawsuit_N.htm "Valerie Plame's Lawsuit Dismissed"] , "USA Today", July 19, 2007, accessed 19 July, 2007.] [ [http://us.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/19/cia.leak/index.html "Judge Tosses Out Ex-Spy's Lawsuit Against Cheney in CIA Leak Case"] , "CNN.com", July 19, 2007, accessed July 19, 2007.] Carol D. Leonnig, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/19/AR2007071901395.html?hpid=topnews "Plame's Lawsuit Against Top Officials Dismissed"] , "The Washington Post", 20 July, 2007, accessed 20 July, 2007.] [https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2006cv1258-52 "Memorandum Opinion"] , 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.] Bates also ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction over the claim because the couple had not yet exhausted their administrative remedies. 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."Qtd. in Matt Apuzzo (Associated Press), " [http://www.denverpost.com/extremes/ci_6414426 "Plame Lawsuit Dismissed in CIA Leak Case"] , "The Denver Post", July 19, 2007, accessed July 19, 2007.]

Appeal

On July 20, 2007, the Wilsons and Melanie Sloan, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which represents them, announced publicly that they had filed an appeal of the U.S. District Court's decision to dismiss their law suit, [http://www.wilsonsupport.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=0 "Statements and Responses: Statement on Ambassador Joseph and Valerie Wilson's Appeal"] , "The Joseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust", "wilsonsupport.org", July 20, 2007, accessed June 10, 2008 [Updated version of site] . Cf. [http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29517 "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.] [http://www.citizensforethics.org/files//011607WilsonPlaintiffsOpposition.pdf "Legal Filings: Wilsons' Opposition to Defendants' and the United States' Motion to Dismiss"] , "The Joseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust", "wilsonsupport.org", January 16, 2007, accessed June 10, 2008.] which was heard on May 8, 2008. [http://www.wilsonsupport.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=31 "Legal Filings: Current Status of Civil Suit: Update on the Wilsons' Lawsuit"] , "The Joseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust", "wilsonsupport.org", May 9, 2008, accessed June 10, 2008.] On August 12, 2008, in a 2-1 decision, the three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the dismissal.Susan Decker and Cary O'Reilly, [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.vwH.xyBcpY&refer=home# "Cheney, Rove, Libby Win Plame Suit Dismissal Appeal (Update2)"] , "Bloomberg.com", August 12, 2008, accessed August 13, 2008.] [http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/dc/075257p.pdf "DC Circuit Court Opinion"] at "Findlaw.com", August 12, 2008, accessed August 13, 2008.] On behalf of the Wilsons, Sloan said that CREW "is considering asking the full D.C. Circuit to review the case and an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court."

ee also

*CIA leak grand jury investigation
*CIA leak scandal timeline
*Plame affair
*United States v. Libby

Notes

External links

* [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Amended_complaint_9-13-06.pdf "Amended Complaint"] in Wilson v. Cheney. ("Wikisource")
* [http://members.cox.net/liinda/Plame_cheneyMTDismiss.htm "Defendant Vice President of the United States Richard B. Cheney's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint"] in Plame v. Cheney [Wilson v. Cheney] . In "Documents: Plame/Wilson Civil Case", "members.cox.net", November 14, 2006. Accessed June 10, 2008.
* [http://www.wilsonsupport.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=33 "Legal Filings"] . " [http://wilsonsupport.org The Joseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust] ", "wilsonsupport.org". Accessed June 10, 2008. (Contains Wilsons' legal motions and other legal filings.)
* [http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/lit/iraq/documents.html#plame "Special Coverage: Iraq Aftermath"] at "FindLaw" (legal documents). Accessed May 5, 2007.