Plame Speaks At Northwestern: "Never Expected Push-Back To Come At Expense Of National Security"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6853.html

Plame discusses censorship at Northwestern

By: Brian Rosenthal - The Daily Northwestern
Nov 13, 2007 11:58 AM EST

Valerie Plame was sitting in her bedroom in 2003 when she found out that her secret identity as a high-ranking CIA agent had been published in The Washington Post. Three years later, she resigned from the CIA, sued many members of the Bush administration for allegedly leaking her name and wrote a book about her experiences.

On Monday night, she spoke to a crowd of about 350 at Ryan Family Auditorium about her experiences.

The talk, entitled "Fair Game, My Life As A Spy and My Betrayal By The White House," was one of her first public speeches since her identity as a CIA operative was revealed. She focused on her experiences before and after the incident. The event was sponsored by the Student Activities Fee, a $44 quarterly fee included in undergraduate students' tuition.

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"Of course we were prepared for a push-back," Plame said. "But we certainly were not prepared when the push-back came against me. 'Cause one week later, Joe came into the bedroom, very early in the morning, and he tossed the paper on the bed and said 'The S.O.B. did it.'"

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She said the leak could deal a blow to future U.S. intelligence efforts. "I never expected that the push-back would come at the expense of our national security," Plame said. "Because this is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democratic issue, this is an issue of your national security."

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Students said they came to the lecture to learn more about the incident, which received a lot of national media attention but is still unclear to many. "I didn't understand all that happened," Weinberg senior Matt Miceli said. "I was curious for the real story."

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