The Plame affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal, the CIA leak case, and Plamegate) is a political controversy in the United States, involving high-level officials of the George W. Bush administration and members of the media, and resulting first in a federal grand jury investigation initiated by the United States Department of Justice, responding to the intial request for an investigation by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and then in a criminal trial of former Vice-Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis Libby, United States v. Libby, and a civil lawsuit, Wilson v. Cheney, brought by the formerly-classified CIA covert officer Valerie E. Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV against Vice President Cheney, Libby, and other present and past members of the administration. Neil A. Lewis, blank">"Source of C.I.A. Leak Said to Admit Role". _The New York Times, August 30, 2006, accessed January 7, 2008.

Beginning in mid July 2003, according to federal court records, Bush administration officials, including Richard Armitage, Karl Rove, and Lewis Libby, discussed with various reporters the employment of a then-classified, covert, CIA officer, Valerie E. Wilson (also known as Valerie Plame). Unclassified official United States government records,next_hurrah/files/sentencing_memo_exhibits.pdf" target="_blank">"Exhibit A", of "Unclassified Summary of Valerie Wilson's CIA Employment and Cover History", from "Sentencing Memo Exhibits", in _United States v. Libby, obtained through the Privacy Act, online posting, The Next Hurrah (blog), accessed May 26, 2007: 2-3. Joel Seidman, blank">"Plame Was 'covert' Agent At Time of Name Leak", MSNBC.com, May 29, 2007, accessed June 10, 2007.

On July 14, 2003, a newspaper column entitled "Mission to Niger" by _Robert Novak disclosed Plame's name and status as an "operative" who worked in a CIA division on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Mrs. Wilson's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, stated in various interviews and subsequent writings (as listed in his 2004 memoir The Politics of Truth) that his wife's identity was covert and that members of the administration knowingly revealed it as retribution for his op-ed entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa", published in The New York Times on July 6, 2003. Joseph C. Wilson 4th, blank">"What I Didn't Find in Africa", _The New York Times, July 6, 2003, accessed June 10, 2007.

On September 16, 2003 the CIA sent a letter to the US Department of Justice, asserting that Plame's status as a CIA undercover operative was classified information and requesting a federal investigation. Stanley M. Moskowitz, Director of Congressional Affairs for the CIA, blank">Letter to _Representative John Conyers, Jr., January 30, 2004, online posting, Talking Points Memo Document Collection, accessed June 10, 2007; full text of the letter rpt. in Wilson, The Politics of Truth 359; cf. 358, 360 (discussion). Attorney General John Ashcroft referred the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel, directed by Patrick Fitzgerald, who convened a grand jury. The CIA leak grand jury investigation did not result in the indictment or conviction of anyone for any crime in connection with the leak itself. However, I. Lewis Libby, Chief of Staff of Vice President Dick Cheney was indicted on five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury, and false statements to the grand jury and federal investigators on October 28, 2005; Libby resigned hours after the indictment.

The federal trial United States v. Libby began on January 16, 2007. On March 6, 2007, Libby was convicted on four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements, and was acquitted of one count of making false statements. Michael J. Sniffen and Matt Apuzzo,leak_trial" target="_blank">"Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Trial", _Associated Press March 6, 2007, accessed March 6, 2007. blank">"Libby Found Guilty of Perjury, Obstruction", _CNN March 6, 2007, accessed March 6, 2007. blank">"Libby Lawyer Demands New Trial After Conviction", _CNN March 6, 2007, accessed March 6, 2007. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison, a fine of US$250,000, and two years of supervised release after his prison term. Matt Apuzzo (Associated Press), a/libby-sentenced-to-30-months-in-prison/20070605022009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001" target="_blank">"Libby Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison", America Online, 5 June, 2007, accessed 5 June, 2007. Paul Courson, Brianna Keilar, and Brian Todd, "Libby Sentenced to 30 months in Prison", _CNN.com 5 June, 2007, accessed 5 June, 2007. After the verdict, Special Counsel Fitzgerald stated that he does not expect anyone else to be charged in the case: "We're all going back to our day jobs." On July 2, 2007, President Bush commuted Libby's jail sentence, effectively erasing the 30 months he was supposed to spend in jail. The probation and fines still remain. The Wilsons also brought a civil law suit against Libby, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Richard Armitage, in Wilson v. Cheney. Associated Press, blank">"Armitage Added To Plame Lawsuit: Ex-State Department Official Joins Cheney, Libby, Rove As Target In Suit", _CBS News, September 13, 2006, accessed March 7, 2007. Joseph C. Wilson, blank">"Statement in Response to Jury's Verdict in U.S. v. I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby", press release, online posting, _Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) March 6, 2007, accessed March 6, 2007. On July 19, 2007, Wilson v. Cheney was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds in United States District Court for the District of Columbia. On behalf of the Wilsons, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed an appeal of the U.S. District Court's decision the following day. blank">Joseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust Home Page, [July 20, 2007], accessed July 27, 2007. Cf. "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.