July 19 (Bloomberg) -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove and former Cheney aide I. Lewis Libby of illegally conspiring to reveal the identity of a CIA agent.

U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington threw out the suit, saying he lacked jurisdiction. Valerie Plame, who worked at the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Virginia, and her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, sued in July 2006.

Plame and Wilson accused Cheney, Rove and Libby of violating their constitutional rights by leaking Plame's identity to the media in retaliation for a New York Times opinion piece by Wilson that questioned the Bush administration's basis for going to war in Iraq. It is a federal crime to knowingly reveal a covert CIA operative's identity.

``Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim on which relief can be granted,'' Bates said in an order today. ``This court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims for public disclosure of private facts.''

Wilson's op-ed article in July 2003 said President George W. Bush's administration twisted intelligence on Saddam Hussein's pursuit of nuclear weapons to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Libby was convicted by a federal jury in March of obstructing a Justice Department probe into the leak of Plame's identity. Bush commuted Libby's sentence on July 3 while keeping the conviction intact. No one has ever been charged with illegally leaking Plame's identity. Libby's lawyer, William Jeffress, didn't return a telephone call.

Filing an Appeal

Lawyers for the Plame and Wilson said they are reviewing the judge's decision and plan to file an appeal.

``While we are obviously very disappointed by today's decision, we have always expected that this case would ultimately be decided by a higher court,'' attorney Melanie Sloan said in a statement. ``We disagree with the court's holding and intend to pursue this case vigorously to protect all Americans from vindictive government officials who abuse their power for their own political ends.''

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to comment.

The case is Plame v. Cheney, 06-1258, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Washington).

To contact the reporter on this story: Cary O'Reilly in Washington at caryoreilly@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 19, 2007 16:18 EDT