Valerie Plame Wilson: No Ordinary Spy

In Her First Interview, Former CIA Officer Speaks To Katie Couric

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on Oct. 21, 2007. It was updated on Aug. 14, 2008.

When former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity was published in a newspaper column five years ago, an investigation traced the leak all the way to the White House and it became apparent this was no ordinary spy story.

Her cover was blown after her husband - former ambassador Joe Wilson - criticized the Bush administration about the Iraq war. Was it retaliation? Administration supporters said no, dismissing her as a low level analyst. One congressman even called her "a glorified secretary."

Valerie Plame Wilson kept her silence about all this for years, until last October when she granted her first interview to 60 Minutes and Katie Couric.

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"Finally, I get to set the record straight. Everyone in the world has spoken about this. And can speak about me. Can write about me, except for me. So finally I have a voice," Plame Wilson says.

60 Minutes met the most famous spy in America in Santa Fe, N.M., where she moved with her family two years ago. And she wanted to clear up some misconceptions.

"When I was outed on July 14th, 2003, I was, until that moment, covert," Plame Wilson says.

Asked what that means, Plame Wilson tells Couric, "That means no one outside of a very small circle knew where I really worked."

She believes her identity was leaked in a newspaper because her husband publicly accused the president and others of lying to justify the invasion.

"We understood that he would be criticized deeply. I never once considered that in fact this administration would betray my identity as payback for his criticism," Plame Wilson says.

She says seeing her name in print was "horrifying, absolutely horrifying."

Horrifying, because Plame Wilson was no glorified secretary. In fact, as it's spelled out in her book, "Fair Game," published by Simon & Schuster, which like CBS News and CBSNews.com is owned by CBS, she spent 20 years at the CIA, rising to top-level positions. Her assignments took her all over the world, where she gathered information, recruited spies, and worked for many years deep undercover. In 1998, she was working at headquarters, spying for the newest CIA division, counter-proliferation.

"Our mission was to make sure that the bad guys, basically, did not get nuclear weapons," Plame Wilson explains.

By the time her name was leaked in 2003, she was chief of operations for the CIA's joint task force Iraq, in charge of dozens of officers and analysts. It was before the Iraq war, and she was trying to find evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

At the time, Plame Wilson says this didn't sound so far-fetched. "It's not as though Saddam Hussein had not pursued this and had not used WMD on his own people," she says.

"You and your team were meeting with Iraqi scientists before the invasion. What kind of intelligence were you getting from those people?" Couric asks.

"Thin. Very thin, very patchy," Plame Wilson says.

"Could it be you just weren't getting enough intelligence at the time?" Couric asks.

"Exactly. That was the horror. You didn't know if maybe if you just found the right scientist. If you just got to the right person, he would be able to give you the plans or give you, you know, really critical stuff that would help put all these pieces together," Plame Wilson says.

One of those pieces was of particular interest to the vice president's office: an intelligence report saying Iraq was buying 500 tons of uranium ore - which can be used to build nuclear weapons - from the African nation of Niger. It was a report that later turned out to be based on forged documents.

[petersemkiw]

Beautiful Valerie Plame Wilson is certainly not your ordinary looking run of the mill spy. She looked great in that picture in the Jaguar...and for months I thought her name was Valerie Flame!

[georgew1956]

i don''t know who done the most wrong. Katie Or George were so use to george *** up that Katie jumped right in there and became president of the fools union.

[ioweign]

Hey walt, she was a desk jockey!!!!

Posted by Xlib at 09:35 AM : Aug 18, 2008

And George was a cheerleader!!!!!

[ioweign]

The CIA had already given up Plame''''s name to Cuba, Russia, et al, 5-10 years back. But of course she can gloss over that. British Intelligence continued to speak of other documents than the Italian forgeries connecting Iraq and Niger, well after Joe Wilson''''s article. Why does she gloss over that? Joe Wilson said, "I was sent by the Vice President", which raised the question of the White House, of "who is this guy"? The White House didn''''t know and literally had to find out, who this guy was, that was using the White House as a front.
Now they want to cry foul because the White House answered the very question Wilson and Plame raised in the Press. That is called being disengenuous. That means, intentionally decietful.

Posted by kesac4650 at 12:16 AM : Aug 18, 2008

Do you have a "source" for your info ??

[ioweign]

hofkurz-Ah, the big vast right wing conspiracy lives in your addled brain. This is a non story, always was, always will be. This chick was a desk jockey who sent her non ambassador hubby to Niger to spread lies. He is and was a nothing as was and is she. You leemings will swallow anything your soros controlled media feeds you. Now, refresh your koolaid cup.

Posted by Xlib at 07:33 AM : Aug 18, 2008

She did not have the pay grade to detail her husband and exactly what kind of job/occupation is a spy suppose to have that would satisfy "you".

[luvny-2009]

Watched it...listened to it.... believed it. Those that elected those criminals in Washington should be ashamed. We have a dictator not a president. This women lost her job over her husbands honestly. They went after his family. That maked me sick, the US has gotten so far out of wack in the last almost 8 years I''m ashamed of it.

[xlib]

Hey walt, she was a desk jockey!!!!

[archiej2]

All kidding (or seriousness) aside, it would be a sure bet that Valerie has to be the most beautiful spy that any country has working on it''s behalf. You gotta believe that just about any male could be persuaded to give away all the goods after spending an evening with this stunning spy.

[xlib]

walt1944-such a hateful, vile post but hey, that''s today''s dem party. If you have any anti psychotic meds, please take them and have your levels checked. You are a sick, vile human being.
And thanks you the supportive words for our wounded military. You, sir, are the reason I left the party.
Sick, just sick.
Hey, are you mcvet with another name???

[walt1944-2009]

All of you neocon Fascist Nazi reight-wing WACKO Republicans out there, take Anthony Scalia''s "advice", ACCEPT IT, GET A LIFE! SHOW US YOUR "PATRIOTISM"!! JOIN THE ARMY! GO TO IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN AND GET SHOT AT FOR REAL!!!

THEN COME BACK HERE (OR MAYBE A PART OF YOU ANYWAY!) AND WE CAN CALL ALL OF YOU "DESK JOCKEYS" TOO!!!!!!!

STAND UP STRAIGHT AND PROUD WITH RIGHT ARM OUT AND SHOUT!!!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!!!!
sig heil, OLDER CLONE OF GEORGE BUSH, "DRRRRIIILLLLL!" MCCAIN!!!!!

[xlib]

hofkurz-Ah, the big vast right wing conspiracy lives in your addled brain. This is a non story, always was, always will be. This chick was a desk jockey who sent her non ambassador hubby to Niger to spread lies. He is and was a nothing as was and is she. You leemings will swallow anything your soros controlled media feeds you. Now, refresh your koolaid cup.

[xlib]

OK, we have the CIA story, next there will be a Katrina victim story followed by race baiting and class envy.
Still waiting for the real OUTER of this desk jockey. By the way, now she was a spy and not an operative???
Say, the sister of a friend of ours has joined the FBI as an analyst (same as plame for the CIA). If I give her name will I be charged for outing spy??
This is such a non story and cbs should be ashamed.

[juwboy]

wmbrashier:

You lost even more credibility by misspelling "lose".

[wmbrashier]

They loose their "credibility" as I did for misspelling the word.

[wmbrashier]

Why is it when people disagree with thing that they read, they become judgemental and insulting? They loose all their creditability. They show their inability to express themselves.

[sdnavyproud]

I didn''t catch this diddy of journalism when it was first perpetrated upon the public last October, but now that I have truly lost all hope that Ms. Couric will make a significant contribution to resoring integrity to her field. It was totally disgraceful in the obvious desire to assault the Wilson character.

The administration had the responsibility and obligation to filter out partisanship, so that war would turn into a reckless endeavor... and they blew it.

Now a whole ''nother generation will be paying the price and only half the country REALLY cares.

[hofkurz]

All these journalists need lessons in Questions 101. I haven''t seen a good interview on CBS in years.

Guess the puppet master had to cover his tracks to save Shrub.

[dafesq]

Could Katie Couric''s interview of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson possibly been more insipid? She seemed bewildered that they would still be "seething" after their very lives were put into jeopardy by members of the Bush administration. She says she knows that neither Karl Rove nor Scooter Libby''s spouses are CIA agents and implies Plame was fair game. Finally Katie doesn''t respond to Bush''s failure to keep his promise to fire anyone found to be responsible for the leak. Katie may be cute, but a responsible journalist? The first thing a real journalist would do would be to drop "Katie" for something a little more grownup.

[kesac4650]

The CIA had already given up Plame''s name to Cuba, Russia, et al, 5-10 years back. But of course she can gloss over that. British Intelligence continued to speak of other documents than the Italian forgeries connecting Iraq and Niger, well after Joe Wilson''s article. Why does she gloss over that? Joe Wilson said, "I was sent by the Vice President", which raised the question of the White House, of "who is this guy"? The White House didn''t know and literally had to find out, who this guy was, that was using the White House as a front.
Now they want to cry foul because the White House answered the very question Wilson and Plame raised in the Press. That is called being disengenuous. That means, intentionally decietful.

Ditto on Couric! She is an idiot to beleive a c arefully laid out lie from PLAME. Plame knows that she will not be contrdicted by her employer, at least in her lifetime.
She and her husband were out to get Bush by trying to curry favor by suposedly outing a "Bush" lie regarding the attempt by Saadam to accumulate yellow cake. CBS tries to make Mr. Plame important and convincing by referring to him as an ambassador, nothing could be further from the truth! Mr. Plame was given the duties as a temporary replacement for an abscent ambassador, but NEVER given the official title. My understanding is that he talked too much and was concidered to not be "to bright". This is the guy that CBS would have yob elieve is the hero od "yellow" gate. Wake up people, CBS had to throw Rather under the bus because Rather dug his grave too deep! CBS can''t stand another embarassment named Plame. As long as it can''t be proved that Ms Plame was part of the team to embarass Bush, CBS will keep bringing the story up. After all, they stand to make money on the specious book by Ms Plame!