Joseph Wilson, husband of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame whose identity was revealed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak, will be speaking at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Memorial Chapel.
A series of events have unraveled since then because it’s illegal to knowingly expose an undercover federal agent’s identity. Most recently, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, resigned after he was indicted on charges of perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice .
Wilson, a former ambassador, went on a CIA-sponsored trip to Niger in February 2002 to investigate whether Iraq had bought uranium from the African country that could be used for nuclear weapons. Wilson found no evidence to support the allegation that Iraq had such an agreement.
Plame’s identity was revealed after Wilson wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times in July 2003 criticizing President Bush for saying in his January 2003 State of the Union speech that Iraq had attempted to buy uranium from Niger.
College Democrats President Lee Fang, the main sponsor of the event, called Wilson courageous for standing up to the Bush administration.
“This talk will bring a lot of insight into how this administration functions,” said Adrian Tirtanadi, vice president for the College Republicans. “He’s doing the right thing by going around and talking about this issue.”
However, Vincent Martorano, College Republicans president, cautioned students to find out the whole truth instead of just taking Wilson’s word.
“This is someone who said Iraq was politicized,” Martorano said. “Now he’s turning around and politicizing his work. He’s no better than the person he’s accusing.”
The College Republicans declined to sponsor the event because they don’t support Wilson’s claim, Martorano said.
Also in July 2003, Novak identified Wilson’s wife as an undercover CIA operative. New York Times reporter Judith Miller was said to have known Plame’s identity and was jailed for 85 days after refusing to testify about the source who told her the then-classified information before a grand jury. Miller announced her resignation from the Times yesterday.
Karl Rove, a top adviser to President Bush, is also under investigation for not telling the grand jury about his conversation with Matthew Cooper, a reporter for Time magazine, who was also under investigation for not disclosing who told him about Plame’s identity.
In his testimony to the grand jury, Rove said he may have received his information about Plame from Libby.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Laurie Au at lauriedbk@gmail.com.
