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Cheney: Wilson Mission Was CIA 'Amateur Hour'

New docs show former veep thought ill of Plame husband's Nigeria trip

By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 31, 2009 2:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – Dick Cheney's memory may have been a little iffy about the Valerie Plame leak, but Politico reports that the former veep left no room for doubt about his opinion of her husband's trip to Niger to investigate an Iraqi purchase of plutonium. "It was amateur hour out at the CIA," Cheney told a federal prosecutor in a 2004 interview released Friday.

In this May 9, 2008 file photo, former CIA officer Valerie Plame speaks in Chicago.
In this May 9, 2008 file photo, former CIA officer Valerie Plame speaks in Chicago.   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the Center for Security Policy dinner at Union Station in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the Center for Security Policy dinner at Union Station in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009.   (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
In this March 15, 2009 file photo, former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, in Washington.
In this March 15, 2009 file photo, former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, Thursday, May 21, 2009.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, Thursday, May 21, 2009.   (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 12 comments
cornelison
Nov 2, 2009 12:05 PM CST
After WW II some Nazis were protected by the USA. It was done because those Nazis had useful information about the Russians. Is it possible that The White House is reluctant to pursue criminal charges for a similar reason?
So_Cal_Larry
Nov 2, 2009 2:00 AM CST
Lets face it - there were other concurrent 'amateur hours' being conducted in our government. Start right in the White House and the President under the control of the Vice President, the war criminal, (5-deferment) Dick Cheney and the other keystone warmonger kops. If it were not so serious, it would be hysterically funny.
cornelison
Nov 1, 2009 11:57 AM CST
He has a selective memory. He argues detailed criticisms but he can't recall who "outed" Plame. He's still "thumbing his nose" at the public. He's daring Americans to arrest him. He must be the most hated man in the country.

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