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Gallup Poll: Americans Suspicious of Bush's Role in Plamegate

April 11, 2006

A new Gallup poll reveals that the American public is not happy over President Bush's leaking of classified intelligence to punish the wife of a war critic. In fact, a majority believes Bush did something illegal or unethical.

A new Gallup poll released today finds that most Americans are critical of President Bush's actions in the Plame/CIA leak scandal, but only one in four is following the matter closely.

Overall, 63% of Americans believe Bush did something either illegal (21%) or unethical (42%), while 28% say he did nothing wrong. While many more Democrats are critical, 3 in 10 Republicans also find that Bush did something illegal or unethical. The more closely people are following the issue, the more likely they are to say he did something illegal rather than merely unethical.

The poll, conducted April 7-9, 2006, shows that just 25% of Americans are following the matter "very" closely, while another 39% are following the issue "somewhat" closely. Another 36% are not following the issue closely at all. Despite the latest turns in the CIA leak case, and news from Iraq, the president's overall approval rating did not fall still further, hanging on at 37%, which is in line with most other polls.

Plamegate is an easier to follow scandal than most for the public. The White House was mad at Ambassador Wilson for refusing to lie and say that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger, so they outed his wife Valerie Plame as covert CIA agent. Her cover was blown, her career was over and -- naturally -- her husband was furious. So he penned that incendiary Op-Ed piece in the New York Times about what was done to his wife. The CIA gave him permission to write the Op-Ed and the word is that the covert division of the CIA is still livid that the White House would blow one of its operative's cover for political gain.

Aside from the obvious "treason in wartime" issue, it's a really bad idea to start blowing agents' covers just because you don't like their spouses. It has emerged that Valerie Plame was working on the Iran/nuclear weapons issue at the time her cover was blown. She had many years' experience, but she has now left the agency. Plame is a valuable asset who was wasted; she is yet another casualty of the lies and deception of the administration during the run-up to the Iraq War.

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