WASHINGTON — Valerie Plame, the diplomat's wife whose secret resume was exposed in a newspaper column that eventually led to the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is leaving the CIA on Friday, people familiar with her plans said. lame, 42, worked undercover for the CIA tracking weapons proliferation but saw her clandestine career imperiled after she was identified as an agency operative in the summer of 2003 in a syndicated column by Robert Novak.
Friends said the mother of 5-year-old twins wanted to spend more time with her family, and that although she agreed to be photographed last year with her husband for an article about the case in Vanity Fair magazine, she had no plans to speak out. | "Spend more time with the family"; isn't that what every fired coach sez? |
There has also been speculation that she would file a civil lawsuit against the Bush administration contending that it leaked her identity and damaged her career. Oh, please, please, please!
"She did not have a career left," said Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA officer and a friend of Plame since the two were in the same agency training class in the 1980s. "She was no longer able to work as a clandestine officer, which was her reason for being." ohnson said that although Plame still had allies at the agency, her ability to function effectively was irreparably harmed after her status became publicly known. | Bogus answer. CIA has plenty of positions that do not require your name be secret. |
"She is either a non-entity or radioactive," Johnson said. "Getting connected with her is not something that is going to enhance your career. She has been something of a leper." Plame has been with the CIA for 20 years; the decision to leave makes her eligible to collect retirement benefits in the future, Johnson said. Her effective retirement date will be in January, but her last day at work will be Friday. |