Journalist Stephen Pizzo writing on his blog,
NewsForReal, gives us much to hope for. He suggests that the civil suit currently being planned by Valerie Plame and her husband, Joe Wilson, could put the nails in the Bush administration's coffin--nails that Fitzgerald's criminal action may not be able to hammer home.
Some excerpts from his article follow the fold.
What do Bill Clinton and O.J. Simpson have in common? Both men slipped through the fingers of the criminal justice system, only to get their comeuppance in civil court.
I only mention that because yesterday's developments in the CIA leak investigation are just the beginning -- not the end. No matter how many senior administration officials end up getting indicted, the real damage to this administration may come not from criminal convictions -- if any -- but from a civil action currently being planned by Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame.
There's important history here. In case you've forgotten, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, for all his diligence, (some would call it obsessive diligence) couldn't pin a thing of consequence on the Clintons until right-wing lawyers convinced Paula Jones to file a civil suit against Clinton. That case set loose a sequence of events that were cheered by conservatives out to get Clinton, but are now likely to be keeping them awake at nights.
Remember, it was the Paula Jones case that established that a private citizen can sue a sitting President. After that, President Clinton had to give sworn depositions to Jones' lawyers.
...[snip]
And here we are again. Only Valerie Plame is no Paula Jones. Jones was a Tonya Harding sans ice skates. Valerie Plame has spent the last couple of decades in the service of her country as a undercover CIA agent, often overseas and exposed to genuine danger.
Her husband, Joe Wilson, also served his country, without stain, as a U.S. Ambassador to several countries. A diplomat from 1976 to 1998 during both Democratic and Republican administrations ...
[snip]
When the Wilsons file their civil suit, they will allege that senior Bush administration officials conspired to maliciously invade Valerie's privacy, destroying her career and exposing her and her family to genuine danger for purely political purposes. Joe will likely allege that they slandered and libeled him as part of a concerted conspiracy to discredit his accurate findings from his mission to Niger, thereby damaging his future career options.
...[snip]
Legal experts are already debating whether the Wilsons have a case. These are some of the same legal experts who thought Paula Jones' case was going to get laughed out of court... the Jones case wound its way all the way up to the US Supreme Court, leaving a trail of embarrassing disclosures every inch of the way.
Subpoenas will fly. And we may finally find out how the Iraq war was cooked. Those who relished Clinton's impeachment will find the gander's sauce laced with cayenne.