``We are under no illusions about how tough this fight will be," Wilson said, ``but we believe the time has come to hold those who use their official positions to exact personal revenge accountable and responsible for their actions." His wife said they decided to pursue the lawsuit with ``heavy hearts."
In the suit filed Thursday in US District Court, Plame Wilson and her husband said that Cheney, Rove, and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis ``Scooter" Libby, leaked her CIA status to reporters to punish Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
Plame Wilson 's identity as a CIA officer was revealed in a July 14, 2003, article by syndicated columnist Robert Novak. At the time, her job as an operations officer was classified information.
Novak's column appeared eight days after Wilson alleged in an opinion piece in The New York Times that the Bush administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify going to war.
The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove, and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame Wilson , who left the CIA in January and is writing a book about what's happened to her.
At yesterday's news conference, Wilson said that in writing the op-ed piece, ``I exercised my civil duty to hold my government to account."
``This attack was based on lies and disinformation, and it included the compromise of Valerie's identity," he added. ``I have confidence in the American system of justice, and this suit is about the pursuit of justice."
The CIA had sent Wilson to Niger in early 2002 to determine whether there was any truth to reports that Iraq had made a deal to acquire yellowcake uranium from the government of Niger to make a nuclear weapon. Wilson discounted the reports, but the allegation that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Africa ended up in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address.
If the Wilsons' lawsuit survives the legal maneuvering that usually occurs in such cases, it could be embarrassing for Republicans in the next presidential election if Cheney and other top White House officials are forced to answer questions in depositions.
