BREAKING: VALERIE PLAME LAWSUIT THROWN OUT

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case against defendants Cheney, Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

from Judge Bate's bio"In February 2006, he was appointed by Chief Justice Roberts to serve as a judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court."

Nick JulianoPublished: Thursday July 19, 2007
A federal judge threw out a civil lawsuit former CIA agent Valerie Plame filed against members of the Bush administration, but the dismissal does not close all Plame's legal avenues.
The court dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds without ruling on the constitutional issues brought by Plame.
The wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, Plame had accused Vice President Dick Cheney and others of conspiring to leak her identity in 2003. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case against defendants Cheney, Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Plame's name was disclosed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak in July of 2003. The lawsuit contend the exposure of her then-classified role with the CIA was meant as retaliation for a column Joseph Wilson wrote earlier that year exposing misinformation pushed by President Bush relating to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Saying the administration officials' actions "may have been highly unsavory," Bates nontheless ruled "there can be no serious dispute" that speaking to the press to rebut Wilson's criticism was "within the scope of defendants' duties as high-level Executive Branch officials."
The court ruled it lacked jurisdiction over Plame's case because she has not exhausted administrative remedies under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is the "proper, and exclusive, avenue for relief on such a claim."
The act provides a waiver from the government's immunity from being sued in certain situations when its employees act negligently within the context of their jobs.
Plame's lawyers expected the decision to be thrown out anticipate filing an appeal, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, whose executive director is representing Joseph and Valerie Wilson.
"While we are obviously very disappointed by today’s decision, we have always expected that this case would ultimately be decided by a higher court," said Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director. "We disagree with the court's holding and intend to pursue this case vigorously to protect all Americans from vindictive government officials who abuse their power for their own political ends."
Bates, who was appointed by President Bush, is the same judge who threw out a case regarding the release of Cheney's Enegey Taskforce records, ThinkProgress notes.
LinkHere

Some bio info on the judge

Judge Bates was appointed United States District Judge in December 2001. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1968 and received a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976. From 1968 to 1971, he served in the United States Army, including a tour in Vietnam. Judge Bates clerked for Judge Roszel C. Thomsen of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland from 1976 to 1977 and was an associate at Steptoe & Johnson from 1977 to 1980. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1980 to 1997, and was Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office from 1987 to 1997. Judge Bates was on detail as Deputy Independent Counsel for the Whitewater investigation from 1995 to mid-1997. In 1998, he joined the Washington law firm of Miller & Chevalier, where he was Chair of the Government Contracts/Litigation Department and a member of the Executive Committee. Judge Bates has served on the Advisory Committee for Procedures of the D.C. Circuit and on the Civil Justice Reform Committee for the District Court, and as Treasurer of the D.C. Bar, Chairman of the Publications Committee of the D.C. Bar, and Chairman of the Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. In 2005, he was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to serve on the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management. In February 2006, he was appointed by Chief Justice Roberts to serve as a judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.