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The phrase Plame Affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal, the CIA leak case, the CIA leak grand...

The phrase Plame Affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal, the CIA leak case, the CIA leak grand jury investigation, and Plamegate) refers to the identification of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer. Mrs. Wilson's relationship with the CIA was formerly classified information. The disclosure was made in a newspaper column entitled "Mission to Niger" written by Robert Novak, and published on July 14, 2003. Mrs. Wilson's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, has stated his opinion in various interviews and subsequent writings (as listed in his 2004 memoir The Politics of Truth) that members of former President George W. Bush's administration revealed Mrs. Wilson's covert status as retribution for his op-ed entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa," published in The New York Times on July 6, 2003. In late February 2002, responding to inquiries from the Vice President's office and the Departments of State and Defense about the allegation that Iraq had a sales agreement to buy uranium in the form of yellowcake from Niger, the CIA had authorized a trip by Joseph C. Wilson to Niger to investigate the possibility. The former Prime Minister of Niger