Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House
Encyclopedia
Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House (New York: Simon & Schuster
, 2007) is a memoir
by Valerie Plame Wilson
. Mrs. Wilson is the former covert
CIA
officer whose then-classified non-official cover
(NOC) identity as "Valerie Plame
" was leaked to the press in July 2003, after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV
, had criticized the George W. Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq War. The outing made her the center of the American political scandal known as the Plame affair
. Her public outing led to her decision to resign from the CIA in December 2005, when she attempted to retire early at the age of 42. Being told that she could not collect her pension until the age of 56, she determined to write this book both as a means of telling her own story in her own words and as a means of earning income to replace her deferred retirement annuity. She encountered resistance from the CIA in the course of chronicling her work with the organization.
As Janet Maslin
writes in her New York Times review on the day of publication, "the story of how her career was derailed and her C.I.A. cover blown ... has its combative side. But the real proof of Ms. Wilson’s fighting spirit is the form in which her version of events has been brought into the light of day."
refers to a comment that President
George W. Bush
's Deputy White House Chief of Staff
for Strategic Planning and Senior Advisor Karl Rove
reportedly told Chris Matthews
, the host of MSNBC
's television show Hardball with Chris Matthews
: "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He says, and I quote, 'Wilson
's wife is fair game.'"
"Fair Game" serves as a metaphor derived from more recent contexts of her life that the author relates in this book; given the nature of covert espionage
, it may suggest multiple meanings.
After the title of Valerie Plame Wilson's book had already been widely disseminated, on August 19, 2007, on Meet the Press
with David Gregory
, Gregory asked Rove, who identified himself as an "avid Republican
", among other statements pertaining to the CIA leak grand jury investigation
attributed to him, whether he "considered her fair game in this debate" between her husband and The White House over the President's so-called "sixteen words
". Rove responded that the phrase "fair game" attributed to him by Chris Matthews
was Matthews' phrase not his own and that he himself did not consider Mrs. Wilson (in Gregory's phrase) "an appropropriate target in this debate."
In October 2003 Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff
reported in Newsweek
that "The White House spokesman dismissed as 'ridiculous' the charge that Rove outed Plame." As Thomas and Isikoff note, "It may be significant that both Rove and Libby deny leaking classified information. They may say that in talking to reporters they used her name without knowing that she was undercover."
Chris Matthews
reportedly declined to discuss the telephone conversation that he had had with Rove, according to Thomas and Iskikoff in Newsweek
, who quote the conversation that Wilson reported having with Matthews and then add parenthetically: "(Matthews told NEWSWEEK: 'I’m not going to talk about off-the-record conversations.')" David Corn
of The Nation
notes Matthews' statement to Newsweek "that he would not discuss off-the record conversations," adding, also parenthetically, that, earlier, "he [Matthews] told me the same...."
Matthews was one of over twenty-five journalists subpoenaed by Special Counsel
Patrick Fitzgerald
regarding their conversations with high-level Bush administration officials pertaining to the CIA leak grand jury investigation
(2003–2005), leading to the indictment and prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of Scooter Libby
in United States v. Libby
(2007).
Ultimately, whereas Fitzgerald's grand jury did not indict Rove for committing any alleged crimes, and, in October 2005, it did indict Libby not for allegedly having leaked Mrs. Wilson's identity but for allegedly having lied in his sworn testimony pertaining to the leak investigation, federal felonies
for which a jury convicted and a judge sentenced him, a sentence which was commuted by Presidential proclamation. After that, a federal court judge dismissed the Wilsons' civil lawsuit (Plame v. Cheney
) charging related offenses by the various government officials, but the Wilsons have appealed that decision, and, thus, the legal matter is still pending. Their appeal may still be pending at the time that Mrs. Wilson's book is published (release date: October 22, 2007).
On April 6, 2006, Matthews stated his own point of view on the CIA leak publicly in some detail in his conversation with Senator John Kerry
on Hardball with Chris Matthews
, describing as "high drama" Scooter Libby
's testimony that the President of the United States
via the Vice President of the United States
had "ordered" Libby to leak classified information pertaining to national security
in order to bolster the case for the Iraq War after it began in March 2003.
On June 7, 2007, the day after Lewis Libby
's sentencing, in a conversation with actor and political activist Ben Affleck
about other matters, Chris Matthews
used the phrase "fair game" several times, initially citing its use in a question submitted for Affleck by a viewer, whose own use of the phrase could reflect Matthews' already well-publicized reported use of it by Wilson, Newsweek
, and many other media
sources. His later usage of the phrase "fair game" in talking with Affleck about other matters raises a possibility that the phrase "fair use" that he reportedly used in talking with Wilson about Rove's comments about "Wilson's wife" (as quoted in The Politics of Truth
[2004, 2005] and as previously quoted in Newsweek
[2003]) was his own phrase and not Rove's, as Rove later disavowed it.
Nevertheless, whether or not Rove originated it, the phrase still conveys metaphorically what Matthews and the Wilsons appear to think that Rove literally may have intended: to "target" (in Gregory's later terminology) Wilson and, collaterally, to leak the information about his wife's CIA identity in the process. The CIA leak grand jury investigation
did not result in charging that anyone leaked her name intentionally while knowing that it was a classified covert
identity, in part, Special Counsel Fitzgerald later argued in United States v. Libby
, because of Libby's obstruction of justice
. The jury convicted
Libby on four of the five counts in the indictment: one count of obstruction of justice
; two counts of perjury
; and one count of making false statements to federal investigators
, he was sentenced on June 5, 2007, and President
Bush
commuted
his 30-month prison sentence on July 2, 2007.
On July 3, 2007, the day after President Bush commuted Libby's sentence, Chris Matthews
talked again with former Ambassador Wilson
, who reiterated his belief that the Bush administration had inappropriately leaked his wife's then-classified covert
CIA identity to retaliate against him politically, in effect targeting her. Matthews asked Wilson: "When did you sense that the White House was trying to destroy your reputation?" and he replied: "Well, it was pretty clear to me shortly after I wrote my article "What I Didn't Find in Africa", when Mr. Novak spoke to a friend of mine on the street and said that, Wilson's a 'blank,' and his wife works for the CIA, that the nature of the smear campaign they were going to run against me was going to include the betrayal of her identity as a covert CIA officer. And that would have been around July 8 or July 9 [2003]."
.
starring Sean Penn
and Naomi Watts
as Plame.
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, 2007) is a memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
by Valerie Plame Wilson
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
. Mrs. Wilson is the former covert
Non-official cover
Non-official cover is a term used in espionage, particularly by national intelligence services, for agents or operatives who assume covert roles in organizations without ties to the government for which they work. Such agents or operatives are typically abbreviated in espionage lingo as a NOC...
CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
officer whose then-classified non-official cover
Non-official cover
Non-official cover is a term used in espionage, particularly by national intelligence services, for agents or operatives who assume covert roles in organizations without ties to the government for which they work. Such agents or operatives are typically abbreviated in espionage lingo as a NOC...
(NOC) identity as "Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
" was leaked to the press in July 2003, after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV
Joseph C. Wilson
Joseph Charles Wilson IV is a former United States diplomat best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; his New York Times op-ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa"; and the subsequent "outing" of his wife...
, had criticized the George W. Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq War. The outing made her the center of the American political scandal known as the Plame affair
Plame affair
The Plame Affair involved the identification of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer. Mrs. Wilson's relationship with the CIA was formerly classified information...
. Her public outing led to her decision to resign from the CIA in December 2005, when she attempted to retire early at the age of 42. Being told that she could not collect her pension until the age of 56, she determined to write this book both as a means of telling her own story in her own words and as a means of earning income to replace her deferred retirement annuity. She encountered resistance from the CIA in the course of chronicling her work with the organization.
As Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
writes in her New York Times review on the day of publication, "the story of how her career was derailed and her C.I.A. cover blown ... has its combative side. But the real proof of Ms. Wilson’s fighting spirit is the form in which her version of events has been brought into the light of day."
"Wilson's wife is fair game"
The phrase "fair game" in the title of Mrs. Wilson's memoirMemoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
refers to a comment that President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's Deputy White House Chief of Staff
Deputy White House Chief of Staff
The White House Deputy Chief of Staff is officially the top aide to the White House Chief of Staff, who is the senior aide to the President of the United States. The Deputy Chief of Staff usually has an office in the West Wing and is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the White House...
for Strategic Planning and Senior Advisor Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
reportedly told Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
, the host of MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's television show Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
: "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He says, and I quote, 'Wilson
Joseph C. Wilson
Joseph Charles Wilson IV is a former United States diplomat best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; his New York Times op-ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa"; and the subsequent "outing" of his wife...
's wife is fair game.'"
"Fair Game" serves as a metaphor derived from more recent contexts of her life that the author relates in this book; given the nature of covert espionage
Non-official cover
Non-official cover is a term used in espionage, particularly by national intelligence services, for agents or operatives who assume covert roles in organizations without ties to the government for which they work. Such agents or operatives are typically abbreviated in espionage lingo as a NOC...
, it may suggest multiple meanings.
Karl Rove's disavowal of the phrase "fair game"
After the title of Valerie Plame Wilson's book had already been widely disseminated, on August 19, 2007, on Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
with David Gregory
David Gregory (journalist)
David Michael Gregory is an American television journalist, and moderator of NBC News' Sunday morning talk show Meet the Press.-Early life:...
, Gregory asked Rove, who identified himself as an "avid Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
", among other statements pertaining to the CIA leak grand jury investigation
CIA leak grand jury investigation
The CIA leak grand jury investigation was a federal inquiry "into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency employee's identity," a possible violation of criminal statutes, including the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, and Title 18, United States Code,...
attributed to him, whether he "considered her fair game in this debate" between her husband and The White House over the President's so-called "sixteen words
September Dossier
Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government, also known as the September Dossier, was a document published by the British government on 24 September 2002 on the same day of a recall of Parliament to discuss the contents of the document...
". Rove responded that the phrase "fair game" attributed to him by Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
was Matthews' phrase not his own and that he himself did not consider Mrs. Wilson (in Gregory's phrase) "an appropropriate target in this debate."
Related contexts
In October 2003 Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff
Michael Isikoff
Michael Isikoff is an investigative journalist for NBC News, formerly with the United States magazine Newsweek. He joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in June, 1994, and has written extensively on the U.S...
reported in Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
that "The White House spokesman dismissed as 'ridiculous' the charge that Rove outed Plame." As Thomas and Isikoff note, "It may be significant that both Rove and Libby deny leaking classified information. They may say that in talking to reporters they used her name without knowing that she was undercover."
Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
reportedly declined to discuss the telephone conversation that he had had with Rove, according to Thomas and Iskikoff in Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, who quote the conversation that Wilson reported having with Matthews and then add parenthetically: "(Matthews told NEWSWEEK: 'I’m not going to talk about off-the-record conversations.')" David Corn
David Corn
David Corn is an American political journalist and author and the chief of the Washington bureau for Mother Jones. He has been Washington editor for The Nation and appeared regularly on FOX News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and BloggingHeads.tv opposite James Pinkerton or other media...
of The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
notes Matthews' statement to Newsweek "that he would not discuss off-the record conversations," adding, also parenthetically, that, earlier, "he [Matthews] told me the same...."
Matthews was one of over twenty-five journalists subpoenaed by Special Counsel
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel
The Office of Special Counsel in the United States Department of Justice replaced the former Office of the Independent Counsel in 1999. It is charged with investigating alleged misconduct in the federal government's executive branch. The current Special Counsel is Patrick Fitzgerald, who was...
Patrick Fitzgerald
Patrick Fitzgerald
Patrick J. Fitzgerald is the current United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and a member of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel...
regarding their conversations with high-level Bush administration officials pertaining to the CIA leak grand jury investigation
CIA leak grand jury investigation
The CIA leak grand jury investigation was a federal inquiry "into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency employee's identity," a possible violation of criminal statutes, including the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, and Title 18, United States Code,...
(2003–2005), leading to the indictment and prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of Scooter Libby
Lewis Libby
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, later disbarred and convicted of a felony....
in United States v. Libby
United States v. Libby
United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby" is the federal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former high-ranking official in the George W. Bush administration....
(2007).
Ultimately, whereas Fitzgerald's grand jury did not indict Rove for committing any alleged crimes, and, in October 2005, it did indict Libby not for allegedly having leaked Mrs. Wilson's identity but for allegedly having lied in his sworn testimony pertaining to the leak investigation, federal felonies
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
for which a jury convicted and a judge sentenced him, a sentence which was commuted by Presidential proclamation. After that, a federal court judge dismissed the Wilsons' civil lawsuit (Plame v. Cheney
Plame 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...
) charging related offenses by the various government officials, but the Wilsons have appealed that decision, and, thus, the legal matter is still pending. Their appeal may still be pending at the time that Mrs. Wilson's book is published (release date: October 22, 2007).
On April 6, 2006, Matthews stated his own point of view on the CIA leak publicly in some detail in his conversation with Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
on Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
, describing as "high drama" Scooter Libby
Lewis Libby
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, later disbarred and convicted of a felony....
's testimony that the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
via the Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
had "ordered" Libby to leak classified information pertaining to national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
in order to bolster the case for the Iraq War after it began in March 2003.
On June 7, 2007, the day after Lewis Libby
Lewis Libby
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, later disbarred and convicted of a felony....
's sentencing, in a conversation with actor and political activist Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
about other matters, Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
used the phrase "fair game" several times, initially citing its use in a question submitted for Affleck by a viewer, whose own use of the phrase could reflect Matthews' already well-publicized reported use of it by Wilson, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, and many other media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
sources. His later usage of the phrase "fair game" in talking with Affleck about other matters raises a possibility that the phrase "fair use" that he reportedly used in talking with Wilson about Rove's comments about "Wilson's wife" (as quoted in The Politics of Truth
The Politics of Truth
The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir , by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, was first published as a hardcover edition in 2004....
[2004, 2005] and as previously quoted in Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
[2003]) was his own phrase and not Rove's, as Rove later disavowed it.
Nevertheless, whether or not Rove originated it, the phrase still conveys metaphorically what Matthews and the Wilsons appear to think that Rove literally may have intended: to "target" (in Gregory's later terminology) Wilson and, collaterally, to leak the information about his wife's CIA identity in the process. The CIA leak grand jury investigation
CIA leak grand jury investigation
The CIA leak grand jury investigation was a federal inquiry "into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency employee's identity," a possible violation of criminal statutes, including the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, and Title 18, United States Code,...
did not result in charging that anyone leaked her name intentionally while knowing that it was a classified covert
Non-official cover
Non-official cover is a term used in espionage, particularly by national intelligence services, for agents or operatives who assume covert roles in organizations without ties to the government for which they work. Such agents or operatives are typically abbreviated in espionage lingo as a NOC...
identity, in part, Special Counsel Fitzgerald later argued in United States v. Libby
United States v. Libby
United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby" is the federal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former high-ranking official in the George W. Bush administration....
, because of Libby's obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
. The jury convicted
Conviction
In law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal . In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal...
Libby on four of the five counts in the indictment: one count of obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
; two counts of perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
; and one count of making false statements to federal investigators
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, he was sentenced on June 5, 2007, and President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
commuted
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
his 30-month prison sentence on July 2, 2007.
On July 3, 2007, the day after President Bush commuted Libby's sentence, Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
talked again with former Ambassador Wilson
Joseph C. Wilson
Joseph Charles Wilson IV is a former United States diplomat best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; his New York Times op-ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa"; and the subsequent "outing" of his wife...
, who reiterated his belief that the Bush administration had inappropriately leaked his wife's then-classified covert
Non-official cover
Non-official cover is a term used in espionage, particularly by national intelligence services, for agents or operatives who assume covert roles in organizations without ties to the government for which they work. Such agents or operatives are typically abbreviated in espionage lingo as a NOC...
CIA identity to retaliate against him politically, in effect targeting her. Matthews asked Wilson: "When did you sense that the White House was trying to destroy your reputation?" and he replied: "Well, it was pretty clear to me shortly after I wrote my article "What I Didn't Find in Africa", when Mr. Novak spoke to a friend of mine on the street and said that, Wilson's a 'blank,' and his wife works for the CIA, that the nature of the smear campaign they were going to run against me was going to include the betrayal of her identity as a covert CIA officer. And that would have been around July 8 or July 9 [2003]."
Subtitle
The subtitle "My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House" corresponds to parts of the subtitle of the 2005 paperback edition of former Ambassador Wilson's memoir Inside the Lies that Put the White House on Trial and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's MemoirThe Politics of Truth
The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir , by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, was first published as a hardcover edition in 2004....
.
Excerpts from reviews with quotations from and references to the book
- Janet MaslinJanet MaslinJanet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
:
- Alan Cooperman:
Film adaptation
In 2010, the book was adapted into a filmFair Game (2010 film)
Fair Game is a 2010 biographical film drama directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. It is based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House which details the scandalous events that took place in mid 2003, implicating senior White...
starring Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
and Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
as Plame.
External links
- Simon Says – Listing for "Fair Game" on the website of Simon and Schuster.
- "Newsnight Book Club - Fair Game by Valerie Plame Wilson". Talk About Newsnight Book Club, NewsnightNewsnightNewsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
, BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, October 25, 2007. Accessed December 21, 2007. (Includes: excerpt from the book; a hyperlinked RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
or Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
[BBC News Player] Newsnight clip of interview with Joseph C. WilsonJoseph C. WilsonJoseph Charles Wilson IV is a former United States diplomat best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; his New York Times op-ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa"; and the subsequent "outing" of his wife...
, conducted by Jeremy PaxmanJeremy PaxmanJeremy Dickson Paxman is a British journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians...
, on BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, on November 3, 2005; and a clip of an earlier interview with former Ambassador Wilson, conducted on Newsnight, by Martha KearneyMartha KearneyMartha Catherine Kearney is an Irish-born British broadcaster and journalist. She is the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme The World at One.-Early life:...
, on November 3, 2003.)