Ex-CIA Officer Valerie Plame Isn’t A Fan Of Barr Casually Referring To ‘Spying’

Former CIA officer Valerie Plame, who gained national prominence when her status as an undercover agent was compromised over a media leak — which landed then-Dick Cheney Chief of Staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby a conviction for lying to investigators —  criticized Attorney General William Barr for his “spying” assessment.

During an interview with CNN’s “New Day” Monday, Plame, who just announced a congressional bid in New Mexico, said she “absolutely” does not consider the surveillance of members of the Trump campaign in 2016 to be “spying.”

“I absolutely do not, these are professionals in our intelligence community, both in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and in the CIA,” she said when asked about Barr’s characterization. “I have to believe that what happened was there was real cause and the bar is extremely high to collect information, particularly on a U.S. citizen. So I don’t know all the details of what lead to that, but I think the attorney general’s rather casual assessment that the FBI spied on candidate Trump is a little too loose with the facts.”

Former CIA officer Valerie Plame: "I think Attorney General Barr’s rather casual assessment that the FBI spied on candidate Trump is a little to loose with the facts" pic.twitter.com/xUyvFrY9Bz

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 13, 2019