Valerie Plame Talks "Fair Game"

Valerie Plame is the former CIA agent whose identity was revealed in an article by Washington Post journalist Robert Novak. "Fair Game" is the biographical movie about Valerie Plame Wilson, an international spy who tried to keep the "bad guys" from getting nuclear weapons.

It's Fair Game for Valerie Plame to Speak Out

When Valerie Plame was exposed, she moved on to Santa Fe and continued working by writing a memoir. Her book about the scandal is titled, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House. Now the movie it out, entitled Fair Game. Valerie Plame decided to speak out rather than hide after her professional privacy was compromised.

During a recent appearance before 600 women philanthropists at Crystal Plaza in Livingston, Valerie Plame spoke about the kibosh on her career in 2003, stating, "Novak wrote the article and every thing was in jeopardy...you have no idea what it's like to lose your privacy until it's gone."

Fair Game Background

A US Justice Department investigation resulted in a conviction of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former US vice president Dick Cheney's chief of staff. The conviction included four counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Cheney's attempt to have him pardoned was unsuccessful.

A week prior to revealing of her identity, Valerie Plame's husband Joseph Wilson accused the White House of falsifying intelligence to mislead the public and invade Iran.

"Fame Game" is based on the memoirs of Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson. The White House situation jeopardized the couple's careers, foreign contacts and strained their marriage. Working in international intelligence is difficult enough without sharing a marriage and public controversy.

Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson Adjust

A successful career and life involves adjusting to unexpected changes. After Plame's identity was publicly revealed, she and her family had to start a new life.

Valerie Plame said to Kansas City, "I went from a career where obviously discretion is paramount and literally overnight all that changed. I have found it very difficult to be a public person. One positive thing that has come out of it is I have been able to advocate publicly for things I was doing while at the CIA, which was counterproliferation."

Grass isn't growing on Valerie Plame as she moves forward to be a public advocate. Earlier this year, Valerie Plame appeared in a anti-nuclear documentary as on onscreen expert in "Countdown to Zero."

Is Fair Game True?

As to the truthfulness of the movie "Fair Game", Valerie Plame stated, "It's not a documentary. It's condensed and there is come compositing of characters. But I think it does a really good job of portraying what we went through, and the truth of the matter."

While the film isn't a documentary, it shares the story of a couple who faced a variety of challenges and continued on to further business success.

Government Careers, Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson

Would Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson advise other to pursue a career with the government? Despite their circumstances, they encourage others to consider government professions.

Joe Wilson advised about careers in government service, "The 21st century is going to be perhaps more dangerous than the 20th century was. We're going to need the very best and the brightest in our military services, our intelligence services and our diplomatic services and they are all great, great careers."

With regard to her government career, Valerie Plame said, "I loved doing what I was doing and was proud to serve my country. Despite what happened to us, there are so many ways to engage. It doesn't have to be at the federal level, but trying to effect positive social change, there are a lot of ways to do that."

Business Endeavors After International Service

Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson moved on to their own business endeavors after her career as an international spy was finished. According to Wikipedia, on March 6, 2007, the couple signed a deal with Warner Bros to offer their consulting services in the movie about the CIA leak, the Libby trial and their lives.

In May 2006, Valerie Plame Wilson agreed to a book deal of $2.5 mil with Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. The deal fell through then Plume entered exclusive negotiations with Simon & Schuster. It's an excellent example of never giving up to achieve your goals.

Litigation ensued against the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the CIA arguing the CIA was " unconstitutionally interfering with the publication of her memoir, Fair Game...set to be published in October [2007], by not allowing Plame to mention the dates that she served in the CIA." The issue was ruled in favor of the CIA with the Classified Information Act overriding Plame's constitutional freedoms.

Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, is released by Summit Entertainment with a rating of PG-13 and running time of 106 minutes. The film is sure to shed light on the many facets of government and surviving the loss of a career in the public eye.