Brewster Jennings & Associates was a front company set up in 1994 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a cover for its officers. The most famous is Valerie Plame, a "covert employee of the CIA" whose then-classified status was published in a syndicated newspaper column by Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. Novak later said that his initial primary source was then-United States Deputy Secretary of State (2001–2005) Richard Armitage, though Armitage disagreed with Novak as to the extent of his role.
Plame affair
According to Walter Pincus and Mike Allen, in the Washington Post of October 4, 2003, Brewster Jennings & Associates was "the obscure and possibly defunct firm" at one time listing Valerie Plame as a staff member:<blockquote>Plame's name was first published July 14, 2003, in a newspaper column by Robert D. Novak that quoted two senior administration officials. They were critical of Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV, for his handling of a CIA mission that undercut President Bush's claim that Iraq had sought uranium from the African nation of Niger for possible use in developing nuclear weapons.... The name of the CIA front company was broadcast yesterday [October 3, 2003, on CNN] by Novak, the syndicated journalist who originally identified Plame. Novak, highlighting Wilson's ties to Democrats, said on CNN that Wilson's "wife, the CIA employee, gave $1,000 to Gore, and she listed herself as an employee of Brewster-Jennings & Associates."
Furthermore, reporting for the news service Knight Ridder, Warren Stroebel writes:
<blockquote>Compounding the damage, the front company, Brewster Jennings & Associates, the name of which has been reported previously, apparently also was used by other CIA officers whose work now could be at risk, according to Vince Cannistraro, former CIA chief of counterterrorism operations and analysis. Now, Plame's career as a covert operations officer in the CIA's Directorate of Operations is over. Those she dealt with – on business or not – may be in danger. The directorate is conducting an extensive damage assessment. And Plame's exposure may make it harder for American spies to persuade foreigners to share important secrets with them, U.S. intelligence officials said.</blockquote>
D&B statements
A spokeswoman for Dun & Bradstreet, a New Jersey operator of commercial databases, said Brewster Jennings was first entered into its records on May 22, 1994, but wouldn't discuss the source of the filing. Its records list the company, at 101 Arch Street, Boston, Massachusetts, as a "legal services office," which could mean a law firm, with annual sales of $60,000, one employee, and a chief executive identified as "Victor Brewster, Partner." This official was later identified as Marc Grossman, the former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2001 to 2005, both under sworn testimony by Edmonds and by other sources.
See also
- Joseph C. Wilson
- CIA leak scandal timeline
- Wilson v. Cheney
- United States v. Libby
- Valerie Plame Wilson