Judge dismisses CIA leak lawsuit
A US judge has dismissed a former CIA operative’s lawsuit against senior Bush administration officials, eliminating one of the last court cases over the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity.
... US District Judge John Bates dismissed the case on Thursday on jurisdictional grounds and said he would not express an opinion on the US constitutional arguments.
Bates dismissed the case against all defendants: Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove, former White House aide I Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state.
... Plame’s identity was revealed in a syndicated newspaper column in 2003, shortly after Wilson began criticising the administration’s march to war in Iraq.
Armitage and Rove were the sources for that article, which touched off a lengthy leak investigation.
Nobody was charged with leaking but Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing the investigation.
George Bush, the US president, commuted Libby’s 2 1/2-year prison term before the former aide served any time.
Cash for honours: NOBODY will be charged
Tony Blair’s chief fundraiser Lord Levy toasted the collapse of the cash-for-honours case with champagne today.
And No 10 aide Ruth Turner, who was arrested at dawn during the probe, smiled broadly as she emerged from her flat.
... Head of the CPS Special Crime Division Carmen Dowd said: “Having considered all of the evidence in this case I have decided that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against any individual for any offence in relation to this matter.”
Well, not if the reader poll in the Daily Mail is any guide ...
Were police right to investigate the cash for honours allegations?
1 Yes 90%
2 No 10%
Posted by Guessedworker on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 00:16 | #
In today’s Times:-