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Tony Dokoupil
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Nov 2, 2007 05:18 PM
Shrewd marketing or government spite? That was the question when Valerie Plame's memoir, “Fair Game,” appeared on bookstands last month with some 10 percent of its 302 pages deleted by CIA censors. Plame, the former agency operative at the center of Washington’s leaked-identity scandal, believes it may be a bit of both. The occasional lapse into ludicrousness, though, was probably unintended. There's a paragraph on breast-feeding riddled with blacked out lines, and an early chapter about Plame's life as an agent in a (redacted) country is entitled "(REDACTED) Tour." But Plame, whose identity was revealed in 2003, says these gutted sections are further proof of a vendetta against her coming from the top of the administration down.
She tells NEWSWEEK that the CIA's Publications Review Board, the wing of the agency that edits the public writings of ex-employees, moved to approve her work before being overruled by director Michael Hayden. According to Plame, board chairman Richard Puhl told her that her book required only minor redactions before publication, but that "the seventh floor"--a euphemism for senior management--was still debating more extensive cuts. A week later, Puhl told her that she could not reveal that she worked for the CIA prior to 2002, a decision that required her to strike large sections of text. Puhl also told her that the decision was "ludicrous" and that the CIA's censorship was merely a "fig leaf" over information that was already public in the Congressional Record and elsewhere. In 2006, the CIA sent Plame an unclassified letter about her pension eligibility that said she had worked for the agency for "20 years, 7 days," including "6 years, 1 month and 29 days of overseas service."
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Michael Isikoff
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Mar 1, 2007 04:40 PM
How do you read the body language of a jury? That was the big question in U.S. Judge Reggie Walton's courtroom this afternoon, as he brought in the 11 remaining jurors in the I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby case for a little chat. After nearly six days of deliberations,...
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Dan Ephron
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Nov 29, 2006 05:10 PM
When a U.S. intelligence agency uncovers a spy in its midst, investigators begin the painstaking process of tracing the lapses that led to the security breach. In the case of Jonathan Jay Pollard, the Navy intelligence analyst who sold secrets to Israel...
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Michael Isikoff
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Nov 18, 2006 05:16 PM
What was President Bush's personal role, if any, in giving a green light to harsh interrogation methods? That's never been clear, but now Democratic leaders are more determined than ever to find out. The CIA acknowledged last week, in response to a freedom...
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Steve Tuttle
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Nov 15, 2006 05:27 PM
Admit it. You already miss Jack Abramoff. But don't fret. Even though the ex-super lobbyist, now known as Federal Prison Inmate No. 27593-112, began his six-year sentence today, he can still have visitors. It's not like he's going to be holed up in a...
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Mark Hosenball
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Oct 28, 2006 11:04 AM
Here's one investigation into pre-war Iraq intelligence you won't hear much about before the election: The Senate Intelligence Committee has completed a draft report that compares the situation in Iraq today with forecasts that U.S. agencies made before...
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Holly Bailey
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Oct 10, 2006 04:58 PM
As the House ethics committee formally begins interviews this week in its investigation of the Mark Foley scandal, embattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert is set to get some high-profile PR help back home. On Thursday night, Hastert is scheduled to appear...
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Holly Bailey
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Oct 6, 2006 04:54 PM
During any other week, it would have been front page news. Late this afternoon, the White House confirmed that Susan Ralston, a top aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, has resigned. Just a week ago, e-mails released along with a House committee report...
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Michael Isikoff
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Oct 4, 2006 04:48 PM
What did John Boehner know and when did he know it? The House majority leader is apparently having a tough time with his memory. In less than a week, he's trotted out three different versions of his conversations with House Speaker Dennis Hastert about...
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Holly Bailey
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Oct 3, 2002 04:45 PM
Jack Abramoff, Seinfeld fan? As part of its report on the convicted superlobbyist's contacts with White House officials, the House Government Ethics committee has released nearly 300 pages of e-mails and internal memos obtained under subpoena from Abramoff...
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