Valerie Plame Wilson

Valerie Plame Wilson is testifying to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (think Waxman) right now. C-Span has the feed.

Just to get it off my chest, it is very difficult to listen to the inept, halting, unthought-out, leading questions put to her by the congress people.

Representative Elija Cummings (D-MD) is a refreshing exception. He had four or five questions, prepared, clearly parsed and going to one point: were you covert? In fact he holds up the target of the notorious Victoria Toensing’s Op-Ed piece (for the Washington Times no less) claiming that Plame was not covert. Bang bang – Plame shoots it down. [Later: Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) is similarly good. Waxman, bravo!]

Plame herself is short and to the point, less gruff and growly than one imagines CIA types to be. She makes it absolutely clear: I was covert. I was a WMD expert. It was not common knowledge on the Georgetown cocktail circuit that I was a CIA operative. My career was destroyed. My family and colleagues were put in danger. Recruitment of future CIA contacts was damaged. Never in the history of the CIA has its own government blown the cover of an agent.

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