Valerie Plame, the CIA officer whose leaked identity triggered a federal investigation that reached into the White House, today publicly refuted claims that she was not a covert employee and accused the White House and State Department of “carelessly and recklessly” destroying her cover for political purposes.
In sworn testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Plame described publicly for the first time the circumstances that brought her to the attention of senior Bush administration officials and the effect that the leak of her CIA employment and identity had on her.
“I felt like I had been hit in the gut,” Plame said of the moment she learned her name and agency affiliation had been published in a July 14, 2003, column by Robert D. Novak.
The conservative columnist attributed the information to two senior administration officials, who were later identified in court as Richard L. Armitage, then the deputy secretary of state, and Karl Rove, a senior adviser to President Bush who currently serves as his deputy chief of staff.
