UPDATED: Valerie Plame filing 'conspiracy' suit against Cheney, Rove, Libby...

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 3:17 PM on July 13, 2006.

As Bob Novak returns to the stage to spread the gospel of misinformation, the Plames (Joe Wilson's favorite joke is to introduce himself as "Valerie Plame's husband") return seeking justice.

Valerie, the CIA agent outed with the help of Novak, Rove, Libby, and who knows who else, filed a civil lawsuit against Cheney, Rove, Libby, and John Does 1 through 10 [read it HERE].

According to the Business Wire press release:

The suit accuses the defendants of violating the Wilsons' constitutional and other legal rights as a result of "a conspiracy among current and former high-level officials in the White House" to "discredit, punish and seek revenge against" Mr. Wilson for publicly disputing statements made by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address justifying the war in Iraq.

The Carpetbagger notes that in civil cases a great deal of embarrassing information about powerful people can be revealed -- as was the case with the Paula Jones suit against Clinton. He writes:

"the Wilsons' lawyers will likely get Cheney, Rove, Libby, and others — including, possibly, George W. Bush — to answer questions, well beyond the scope of Fitzgerald's narrow investigation. The possibilities are limitless…."

Christy Hardin Smith writes: "Talk about yer game on…wonder if there will be news coverage?" It's on the front page of the Washington Post right now so I'd revise the question to read: Will the coverage be "balanced" -- in the sense that everyone gets to spin their spin and the readers get to wallow in the morass of uncertainty -- or truthful? (Firedoglake, Wilson Support, DailyKos)

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Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.