Plame civil suit thrown out — by former Whitewater prosecutor

July 19, 2007

This is most disappointing.

A federal judge dismissed former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s lawsuit against members of the Bush administration Thursday, eliminating one of the last courtroom remnants of the leak scandal.

Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had accused Vice President Dick Cheney and others of conspiring to leak her identity in 2003. Plame said that violated her privacy rights and was illegal retribution for her husband’s criticism of the administration.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds and said he would not express an opinion on the constitutional arguments. Bates dismissed the case against all defendants: Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove, former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Plame’s attorneys had said the lawsuit would be an uphill battle. Public officials are normally immune from such lawsuits filed in connection with their jobs.

I’m still getting the details — I have not yet read the dismissal — but apparently the decision wasn’t based on the merits of Plame’s claim, but rather procedural issues regarding jurisdiction. (In other words, if you hear/see a conservative say, “Plame’s case was thrown out because it was baseless,” that’s wrong.)

One more thing to keep in mind: Bates was named to the federal bench by — you guessed it — George W. Bush. Better yet, Bates was a prosecutor on Ken Starr’s Whitewater team, and in 2002, ruled in Dick Cheney’s favor in keeping his energy-task force secret.

It’s awful to have lost faith in the integrity of parts of the federal judicial system, isn’t it?

I understand he didn’t rule on the merits of the case, but I found the decision as disenheartening as the Scooter commutation. These people will never pay for their treason or their slanders. And it’s galling as hell. We do absolutely have several layers of justice in this country. These people all have immunity, and what’s scary unless Congress acts to absolutely bind government officials some 20 years or so in the future these same people, or their proteges and minions will be back, and will have more impunity. The other thing I find hideous in the entire episode is Reps are always talking about how we need less regulations for big business in this country. That if a business does commit an egregious wrong, there is always the tort system to fall back on. So instead of tying business to a code on the front end, they claim we can get releif on the back end through the courts. But what happens when it’s our government committing the wrongs against our fellow citizens? The Wilson’t will get no relief. EVER. And the reich-wingers will be able to say all that they still say about the case and now start in with the meme that her case was baseless. We must reform this NOW.

I certainly hope Plame’s lawyers are thinking about bringing libel and slander suits against all the people who are still lying about her.

  • So a federal court can not support a civil suit against a member of the federal executive branch but a state civil court can. Is that the bottom line from this judge?

  • Ah, now, we only have to go back to the 2000 election decided by the Supreme Court to recognize that partisanship doesn’t go out the door when a person becomes a judge.

  • Dismal.

    Only a sweeping wipe-out of the Republican criminal class in 2008 can have any chance of curing these endemic ills.

    Uphill? — North face of the Eiger.

  • Haven’t studied the op yet, but I would hesitate to point the finger at the judge. There are lots of hoops to jump through when you sue the feds, and Bates didn’t put them there.

  • At least Bush-nominated Judge Reggie Walton and Bush-appointed Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald got it right.

  • And how do we bring an end to this kind of reactionary BS after the Dem landslide of November, 2008???

    1. Pack the Supreme Court.

    2. End the Senate filibuster.

    Then, after the new Democratic president is inaugurated in January, 2009, sit Bush and Cheney before Congress and make them testify…there will be no right wing Supreme Court to uphold their continuing claims of executive privilege…there must be accountability for the abuses of the Bush/Cheney era.

    It’s long past time to take back government…after November, 2008 the mantra will be “progressive hardball 24/7″…

  • He’s still sucking ass for having Bush appoint him to the bench. So much for the Hippocratic oath. Everywhere you look, wretched Bushite cretins can be found!

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