A link from Jack Grant to this Bloomberg article drops this little tidbit at the end:
In an interview yesterday, Wilson said that once the criminal questions are settled, he and his wife may file a civil lawsuit against Bush, Cheney and others seeking damages for the alleged harm done to Plame's career.
If they do so, the current state of the law makes it likely that the suit will be allowed to proceed -- and Bush and Cheney will face questioning under oath -- while they are in office. The reason for that is a unanimous 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against then- President Clinton could go forward immediately, a decision that was hailed by conservatives at the time.
I commented on Jack's post:
It does seem that this is going to catch some bigwig in the snares, and that this has been fairly deftly managed.
The purpose of the investigation might turn out to be not about prosecution, but a retirement plan for the Wilsons.
For which he rightly corrected me in an email:
I think I would say "biggest outcome of the investigation" rather
than "purpose of the investigation" since I really doubt the Wilsons
had THAT much pull to get a special investigator named.I just find a lot of irony in the fact that a ruling the
conservatives/Republicans cheered might hoist their boy higher than it
hoisted brother Bill...
Yes, the prospect of Bush and/or Cheney testifying would be a delicious irony, even though we probably won't be witnessing questions about a priapic president. My point, better stated, is that the Wilsons may have seen a happy outcome if the issue was pushed, not that they have the ability to cause an action. After all, it is not yet certain that Ms Plame had been harmed. Her covert status may have been compromised, but her position at CIA may or may not have been ultimately impacted.
So even if there is not enough to bring criminal charges, can't tort law benefit those who feel, or at least claim, that they have been harmed from a lower threshold, say, compensation for lost future wages, potential personal harm, etc? Any lawyers out there?
And if there is indeed a lawsuit, would the president's lawyer (now up for nomination to the Supreme Court, by the way) advise him to testify or settle out of court?
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