Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the dismissal of Valerie Plame's lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and Richard Armitage.  Plame is considering an appeal:

Melanie Sloan, Plame's attorney at the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Plame was considering an appeal.

"It is simply unacceptable for top government officials to be unaccountable for such a gross abuse of their power," Sloan said.

The lawsuit named former presidential adviser Karl Rove; Cheney's former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby; and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Armitage was the original source for a 2003 newspaper column identifying Plame as a CIA officer. At the time, her husband was criticizing the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq and had become a thorn in the side of the White House. Rove also discussed Plame's employment with reporters.

The leak touched off a lengthy investigation that resulted in Libby's conviction for obstruction and lying to investigators. Jurors found that he told reporters about Plame and lied about it to the FBI and a federal grand jury. Bush commuted Libby's sentence before he ever served a day in prison.