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American Morning

CIA Operative Leak Investigation

Aired October 08, 2003 - 08:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush says he wants to get to the bottom of just who revealed a CIA operative's name. But he is also expressing some doubt that the person behind the leak will ever be found. Yesterday, White House staffers met a deadline to turn those documents over that could be related to the leak. And, meanwhile, Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, the CIA operative who was exposed, say they are considering filing a lawsuit.
The Wilsons' attorney, Christopher Wolf, joins us this morning from Washington.

Chris, good morning.

Nice to see you.

CHRISTOPHER WOLF, WILSON'S ATTORNEY: Good morning, Soledad.

Good to see you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

Give me a sense of who you're considering at this point, as it's just a consideration, who you're considering naming in this lawsuit.

WOLF: Well, you know, it's way too early to say who might be the defendant in a lawsuit. Right now it is clearly John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, the two senior administration officials who Bob Novak reported leaked information to him about Ambassador Wilson's wife, apparently in an attempt the retaliate against Ambassador Wilson or to intimidate him from speaking out further against the Bush administration's Iraq war decision.

O'BRIEN: So then if John Doe 1 or John Doe 2 are never actually officially discovered and named in the investigation that's going on at the White House with the Justice Department, does that mean that your case goes nowhere and you end up not filing a lawsuit?

WOLF: Well, it doesn't necessarily. I must say we're troubled by the apparent effort to downplay this episode yesterday at the White House. The president suggested that we may never find out who the individuals are, which is troubling. And the press secretary said that it is absurd to suggest that the administration would attempt to punish its critics.

Well, that apparently is exactly what happened here and as a result, the privacy of a very private woman, who has served this country for 20 years, was seriously invaded. The mother of two twins who is attempting to live her life and also serve the government has been disrupted, perhaps irreparably. That's something for which there is a civil remedy. There's also a criminal investigation, and both should be pursued.

O'BRIEN: Although I guess the part that's confusing is if no one's ever named, how do you -- -- I don't think anyone is doubting that her life, to some degree, has been irreparably damaged and harmed. But who do you go after?

And I guess my other question would be you're talking about considering a lawsuit. What are the factors going into whether you say yea or any on this consideration?

WOLF: Well, there are a whole range of factors. First of all, the Wilsons would do nothing to interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation. That needs to be pursued and pursued vigorously, perhaps ultimately by an independent prosecutor or counselor.

But there are a range of considerations. There's a long statute of limitations for the kinds of intentional torts and intentional infliction of harm that apparently occurred here. We'll be monitoring this very carefully on behalf of the Wilsons. The national interest is being looked after, we hope, by the Justice Department. The political interests are being looked after, certainly. The Wilsons' interests will be looked after by us.

O'BRIEN: What are, at the end of the day, the Wilsons' interests in terms of what they would want out of a civil lawsuit? Is it money? They want cash? They want -- what do they want?

WOLF: Well, ultimately they want to find out who would do this to first Ambassador Wilson, an American citizen who was exercising his first amendment right and who also went on a mission as a volunteer, really, to help the country investigate the facts surrendering Niger and Iraq. And as to Mrs. Wilson, they would want a remedy for the invasion of harm that has occurred to her and her family.

There's...

O'BRIEN: And what would that remedy -- you know, and I know, again, this is all a consideration, but so give me a sense, then, they want a remedy what -- in what terms? What kind of remedy?

WOLF: Well, you know, to start with, an apology and an admission from the person who did this would be a nice start and we would hope the White House would call for that and push for that. But beyond that, certainly her career will never be the same and we're calculating what exactly that means.

O'BRIEN: All right, Chris Wolf, nice to see you.

Thanks.

WOLF: Sure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 8, 2003 - 08:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush says he wants to get to the bottom of just who revealed a CIA operative's name. But he is also expressing some doubt that the person behind the leak will ever be found. Yesterday, White House staffers met a deadline to turn those documents over that could be related to the leak. And, meanwhile, Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, the CIA operative who was exposed, say they are considering filing a lawsuit.
The Wilsons' attorney, Christopher Wolf, joins us this morning from Washington.

Chris, good morning.

Nice to see you.

CHRISTOPHER WOLF, WILSON'S ATTORNEY: Good morning, Soledad.

Good to see you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

Give me a sense of who you're considering at this point, as it's just a consideration, who you're considering naming in this lawsuit.

WOLF: Well, you know, it's way too early to say who might be the defendant in a lawsuit. Right now it is clearly John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, the two senior administration officials who Bob Novak reported leaked information to him about Ambassador Wilson's wife, apparently in an attempt the retaliate against Ambassador Wilson or to intimidate him from speaking out further against the Bush administration's Iraq war decision.

O'BRIEN: So then if John Doe 1 or John Doe 2 are never actually officially discovered and named in the investigation that's going on at the White House with the Justice Department, does that mean that your case goes nowhere and you end up not filing a lawsuit?

WOLF: Well, it doesn't necessarily. I must say we're troubled by the apparent effort to downplay this episode yesterday at the White House. The president suggested that we may never find out who the individuals are, which is troubling. And the press secretary said that it is absurd to suggest that the administration would attempt to punish its critics.

Well, that apparently is exactly what happened here and as a result, the privacy of a very private woman, who has served this country for 20 years, was seriously invaded. The mother of two twins who is attempting to live her life and also serve the government has been disrupted, perhaps irreparably. That's something for which there is a civil remedy. There's also a criminal investigation, and both should be pursued.

O'BRIEN: Although I guess the part that's confusing is if no one's ever named, how do you -- -- I don't think anyone is doubting that her life, to some degree, has been irreparably damaged and harmed. But who do you go after?

And I guess my other question would be you're talking about considering a lawsuit. What are the factors going into whether you say yea or any on this consideration?

WOLF: Well, there are a whole range of factors. First of all, the Wilsons would do nothing to interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation. That needs to be pursued and pursued vigorously, perhaps ultimately by an independent prosecutor or counselor.

But there are a range of considerations. There's a long statute of limitations for the kinds of intentional torts and intentional infliction of harm that apparently occurred here. We'll be monitoring this very carefully on behalf of the Wilsons. The national interest is being looked after, we hope, by the Justice Department. The political interests are being looked after, certainly. The Wilsons' interests will be looked after by us.

O'BRIEN: What are, at the end of the day, the Wilsons' interests in terms of what they would want out of a civil lawsuit? Is it money? They want cash? They want -- what do they want?

WOLF: Well, ultimately they want to find out who would do this to first Ambassador Wilson, an American citizen who was exercising his first amendment right and who also went on a mission as a volunteer, really, to help the country investigate the facts surrendering Niger and Iraq. And as to Mrs. Wilson, they would want a remedy for the invasion of harm that has occurred to her and her family.

There's...

O'BRIEN: And what would that remedy -- you know, and I know, again, this is all a consideration, but so give me a sense, then, they want a remedy what -- in what terms? What kind of remedy?

WOLF: Well, you know, to start with, an apology and an admission from the person who did this would be a nice start and we would hope the White House would call for that and push for that. But beyond that, certainly her career will never be the same and we're calculating what exactly that means.

O'BRIEN: All right, Chris Wolf, nice to see you.

Thanks.

WOLF: Sure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com