Former covert CIA operative Valerie Plame and her husband sued Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, on Wednesday for disclosing her identity after her husband criticized the Bush administration.

Armitage said last week that he was the first one to discuss Plame's identity with reporters after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's Iraq policy in a 2003 opinion piece in The New York Times.

Armitage, the former No. 2 State Department official expressed regrets and said the leak was inadvertent.

Armitage joins Vice President Dick Cheney, top White House aide Karl Rove and others as defendants in a lawsuit that charges them with invading the Wilsons' privacy and destroying her career.

Knowingly disclosing the identity of a covert CIA agent is against the law, but no officials have been charged with leaking Plame's identity to the news media in 2003.

Former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been charged with lying to investigators. Presidential advisor Karl Rove was investigated but ultimately not charged.

Armitage did not immediately return a message seeking comment.