Judge censors part of spy's memoir

NEW YORK, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson can not reveal how long she worked for the U.S. spy agency in her memoir set for fall publication.

New York Federal Judge Barbara Jones of Federal District Court ruled Wilson's lengthy employment was never declassified and has not been officially acknowledged by the Central Intelligence Agency even though it is a matter of public record, The New York Times reported Friday.

The CIA has acknowledged only that Wilson worked for the agency from 2002 to January of 2006 even though a letter sent to her about her retirement benefits details employment beginning in November 1985.

In issuing her ruling Wednesday, the judge said the deputy director of the CIA had persuaded her publication of the matter would harm national security.

Wilson is perhaps the best-known former intelligence operative in recent history.

Her employment by the CIA was revealed by Washington columnist Robert Novak in an effort to explain why her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, was selected by the agency for a 2002 mission to Niger.