Valerie Plame Wilson is the woman at the centre of the scandal that, ultimately, led to the downfall, prosecution and conviction of the former White House chief of staff, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, for revealing her identity as a CIA spy. During the run-up to the Iraq War, George Bush and Tony Blair tried to bolster their case for invasion by claiming that Saddam Hussein was trying to procure weapons-grade uranium from Africa. The claim was highly dubious, and when Plame's husband Joseph Wilson, a former US ambassador, was sent to investigate, he quickly concluded it was false. Wilson's findings were not passed up the CIA food chain, however, prompting him to write an article in the New York Times saying Saddam had not tried to buy any uranium. Because this made life awkward for the White House, a counter-attack then began, with a rebuttal rubbishing Wilson's article and in the process revealing Valerie Plame's identity and status as a covert CIA operative -- a revelation that proved illeg