Valerie Elise Plame is an American writer,spy novelist,and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair,also known as the CIA leak scandal,Plame's identity as a CIA officer was leaked to and subsequently published by Robert Novak of The Washington Post. She described this period and the media firestorm that ensued as "mortifying,and I think I was in shock for a couple years".
Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom LLP and Affiliates,typically shortened to Skadden,is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. The company is known for its work on company mergers and takeovers.
Rod Blagojevich,often referred to by his nickname "Blago",is an American politician,political commentator,and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. He was impeached,removed from office,convicted,and incarcerated for eight years on federal charges of public corruption. A member of the Democratic Party,Blagojevich previously worked in both the state and federal legislatures. He served as an Illinois state representative from 1993 to 1997,and the U.S. representative from Illinois's 5th district from 1997 to 2003.
In the United States,a special counsel is a lawyer appointed to investigate,and potentially prosecute,a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exists for the usual prosecuting authority. Other jurisdictions have similar systems. For example,the investigation of an allegation against a sitting president or attorney general might be handled by a special prosecutor rather than by an ordinary prosecutor who would otherwise be in the position of investigating his or her own superior. Special prosecutors also have handled investigations into those connected to the government but not in a position of direct authority over the Justice Department's prosecutors,such as cabinet secretaries or election campaigns.
Judith Miller is an American journalist and commentator who covered Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program both before and after the 2003 invasion,which was later discovered to have been based on inaccurate information from the intelligence community. She worked in The New York Times' Washington bureau before joining Fox News in 2008.
The Plame affair erupted in July 2003,when journalist Robert Novak revealed that Valerie Plame worked as covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency,although the seeds of the scandal had been laid during 2001 and 2002 as the Bush administration investigated allegations that Iraq had purchased Nigerien uranium.
The Plame affair was a political scandal that revolved around journalist Robert Novak's public identification of Valerie Plame as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer in 2003.
The CIA leak grand jury investigation was a federal inquiry "into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee's identity",a possible violation of criminal statutes,including the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982,and Title 18,United States Code,Section 793.
Joseph Tate is an American attorney who represented government official Lewis Libby in the CIA leak grand jury investigation. Tate is a partner with the law firm Dechert LLP in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. Previously,Tate worked in the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice.
United States v. Libby was the federal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby,a former high-ranking official in the George W. Bush administration,for interfering with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's criminal investigation of the Plame affair.
Murray S. Waas is an American independent journalist and investigative journalist best known for his coverage of the White House planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and ensuing controversies and American political scandals such as the Plame affair. For much of his career,Waas focused on national security reporting,but has also written about social issues and corporate malfeasance. His articles about the second Iraq war and Plame affair matters have appeared in National Journal,where he has worked as a staff correspondent and contributing editor,The Atlantic,and,earlier The American Prospect.
The Plame affair was a dispute stemming from allegations that one or more White House officials revealed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Valerie Plame Wilson's undercover status. An investigation,led by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald,was started,concerning the possibility that one or more crimes may have been committed. The initial focus was on Scooter Libby;however,he was not the primary source of the leak.
Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney known for his high-profile indictment and clemency.
The Scooter Libby clemency controversy arose when U.S. President George W. Bush commuted the prison sentence of Scooter Libby,the former Chief of Staff to Bush's vice president,Dick Cheney,on July 2,2007. It resulted in a hearing,"The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials",held July 11,2007,by the full Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives. The hearing was intended to "explore the grave questions that arise when the Presidential clemency power is used to erase criminal penalties for high-ranking executive branch employees whose offenses relate to their work for the President",as well as to assess the consequences of the perjury and obstruction of justice of which vice-presidential Chief of Staff Lewis Libby was convicted March 6,2007.
Fair Game:My Life as a Spy,My Betrayal by the White House is a memoir by Valerie Plame Wilson. Wilson is the former covert CIA officer whose then-classified non-official cover (NOC) identity as "Valerie Plame" was leaked to the press in July 2003,after her husband,former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson,IV,had criticized the George W. Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq War. The outing made her the center of the American political scandal known as the Plame affair. Her public outing led to her decision to resign from the CIA in December 2005,when she attempted to retire early at the age of 42. Being told that she could not collect her pension until the age of 56,she determined to write this book both as a means of telling her own story in her own words and as a means of earning income to replace her deferred retirement annuity. She encountered resistance from the CIA in the course of chronicling her work with the organization.
Gregory Bestor Craig is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama,from 2009 to 2010. A former attorney at the Washington,D.C. law firm of Williams &Connolly,Craig has represented numerous high-profile clients. Prior to becoming White House Counsel,he served as assistant to the President and special counsel in the White House of President Bill Clinton,where he directed the team defending Clinton against impeachment. Craig also served as a senior advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Operation Board Games is a federal fraud investigation initiated by United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in December 2003,in order to investigate suspected fraud and extortion activity by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The investigation's name is a reference to two governing bodies in Illinois:one board controlling the Teacher's Pension System,and the second being the Health Facilities Planning Board.
In December 2008,then-Democratic Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris were charged with corruption by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. As a result,Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly and removed from office by the Illinois Senate in January 2009. The federal investigation continued after his removal from office,and he was indicted on corruption charges in April of that year. The jury found Blagojevich guilty of one charge of making false statements with a mistrial being declared on the other 23 counts due to a hung jury after 14 days of jury deliberation. On June 27,2011,after a retrial,Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 charges,not guilty on one charge and the jury deadlocked after 10 days of deliberation on the two remaining charges. On December 7,2011,Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
A number of controversies related to Rod Blagojevich,formerly the Governor of Illinois,were covered in the press during and after his administration. In addition to a reputation for secrecy that was noted by the Associated Press,Blagojevich was the subject of political,legal,and personal controversies similar to those of his predecessor,Republican Governor George Ryan. To the surprise of many,Blagojevich said in 2008 that he agreed with the idea of commuting Ryan's federal prison sentence.
Patrick M. Collins,is an American lawyer. Collins is a partner in King &Spalding LLP's Special Matters and Government Investigations practice. Previously,he was a partner at Perkins Coie LLP. Prior to joining Perkins Coie,Collins worked for the United States Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. Attorney. In 2005,he led the U.S. government's team in the trial and conviction of former Illinois Governor George Ryan on charges of racketeering and fraud. In 2009,Illinois Governor Pat Quinn appointed Collins to chair the Illinois Reform Commission,which was tasked with making recommendations for ethical reform for Illinois government. Several of the IRC's recommendations became the basis for new state legislation,including an overhauled Freedom of Information Act and the state's first measures to limit campaign finance in history. In January 2010,Collins authored a book entitled Challenging the Culture of Corruption:Game Changing Reform for Illinois.(ISBN 978-0879464240). In 2010,Collins was selected by the Chicago Law Bulletin as one of Chicago's "Top Ten" attorneys of the decade. Prior to his 12 years with the Department of Justice,Collins worked as an associate in private practice.
