Former CIA operative Valerie Plame has filed suit against Vice President Dick Cheney, presidential aide Karl Rove and Cheney’s former chief of staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Three years ago today, columnist Robert Novak published a column identifying Plame as the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Wilson had gone public with findings challenging one of the Bush administration’s pre-war claims on Iraqi weapons. Plame’s lawsuit accuses the Bush administration of conspiring to end her career and putting her and her family at risk. Libby is the only administration official to have been charged in connection with the case. He faces trial in January. Prosecutors told Rove’s lawyer last month he will not face charges. The suit says: “As their chief method of punishment, the White House officials destroyed (Plame’s) cover by revealing her classified employment with the CIA to reporters.” The White House “embarked on an anonymous 'whispering campaign' designed to discredit … (the Wilsons) and to deter other critics from speaking out.”