Valerie Plame's lawsuit against members of the Bush Administration was dismissed today by John D. Bates, United States District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.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.
The only thing Plame got right in her lawsuit was the inclusion of Richard Armitage as a defendant. One of the many odd things about this whole affair has been the distinct absence of Armitage in the accusations of culpable names in the supposed leak of Plame's covert status.
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.
Judge Bates is a Bush 43 appointment to the court. I suspect, if the left holds true to form, charges will fly that the judge is a Bush toady. Judge Bates is also the judge who dismissed Congress's lawsuit by the Comptroller to force Vice President Cheney to reveal information about his energy task force. However, Plame's lawyer had known from the beginning they were facing an uphill battle with the suit.
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.
In a way, I'm disappointed this will not go to trial. I was looking forward to Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame being put on the stand in public, under oath, and being cross examined by a good defense attorney. It would have been interesting to see how they resolved their conflicting testimony during Congressional hearings with their public statements and reporting by the driveby media.
Plame-Wilson's fifteen minutes of fame are over. Time to retire to their new digs in New Mexico.
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