August 8, 2015

‘You can’t make this stuff up’: Plame Wilson says Trump wanted her support

Donald Trump speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via cc

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson says the Donald Trump campaign reached out to her for support.

Donald Trump speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via cc

Donald Trump speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via cc

Plame Wilson, who has supported a number of Democratic candidates in New Mexico and nationwide over the years, said in a Facebook post on Friday night that someone from Trump’s campaign reached out to her.

“You can’t make this up folks!” Plame Wilson, who lives in Santa Fe with her husband Joe Wilson, wrote.

“Okay…this actually happened…someone from the Trump camp contacted me to see if I would give The Donald my support as a way of getting back at Karl Rove,” she said.

It’s unlikely that Plame Wilson would support Trump, who is currently leading the polls in the Republican presidential primary. Plame Wilson and her husband have both expressed support for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner.

The lack of love lost between the Santa Fe couple and Karl Rove dates back to the Iraq War and what ended Plame Wilson’s CIA career.

Joe Wilson, Plame Wilson’s husband, wrote an article in the New York Times saying that there was no indication Saddam Hussein had sought yellowcake uranium to develop nuclear weapons. This was a key claim made by the Bush administration in justifying the Iraq War.

Plame Wilson’s name was then leaked to the media. At the time, Plame Wilson was a covert CIA agent. I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the chief of staff to then-Vice President Dick Cheney, was eventually convicted for four charges related to the reveal of Plame Wilson’s identity.

Rove was a top White House adviser and is now a Fox News analyst who has been highly critical of Trump. In his typical Trump fashion, he has went after Rove.

Plame Wilson didn’t say who it was that reached out, but it probably wasn’t Roger Stone. Stone was Trump’s campaign manager until this weekend; Trump says that he fired Stone while Stone said he resigned.

The move also comes at a time where how Trump speaks to women has come under scrutiny because of his attacks on Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Kelly asked Trump about his controversial and offensive statements in the past about women, which Trump blew off. as a ‘bimbo’ on Twitter.

He then made an apparent menstruation reference about Kelly when on CNN. He denies it was about menstruation.

Most of the other Republican Party candidates have denounced Trump’s comments about Kelly. It has also prompted some to look at Trump’s long history of misogynistic comments.

Trump isn’t popular in Santa Fe, with either party. A former Santa Fe County Republican Party official paraded a Trump piñata around town before breaking up the effigy. The county party then removed him from his leadership position.

New Mexico isn’t a very influential state when it comes to naming nominees in either party; the primary takes place in June, well after nominations are typically decided.

Okay…this actually happened…someone from the Trump camp contacted me to see if I would give The Donald my support as a way of getting back at Karl Rove. You can’t make this stuff up, folks!

Posted by Valerie Plame Wilson on Friday, August 7, 2015

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