Why would the White House want to undermine Joseph Wilson?
The implication is that the White House was trying to suggest Wilson had a hidden motive for his trip to Niger. He once worked on the National Security Council for President Clinton and was seen by the Bush White House as an opponent. Novak says Wilson had become a critic of the President’s policy in Iraq and had contributed to the Al Gore campaign in the last election and to Senator John Kerry in this. It is not known exactly what Valerie Plame’s role in the CIA is or was. Novak says he was told she was an analyst, but the fact that the CIA is taking legal action suggests she did have an undercover role. As a former diplomat’s wife, she would have travelled widely. Why has it taken so long for this row to develop? The story became a major one only when it emerged that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to open an inquiry into the leak. It is a crime for an official to reveal the name of a CIA undercover operative to someone without security clearance and the CIA always follows u
