Valerie Plame interview

The whistle blower who sparked Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry will have his life turned upside down when his identity is inevitably revealed, says an outed former CIA agent.

Valerie Plame, who was forced to quit her undercover role when her name was leaked by US government officials in 2003, said the identity of the CIA operative who raised concerns about the US president's dealings with foreign leaders should be protected at all costs.

"My heart truly goes out to him," she said. "This person's life has changed forever; I think it's only a matter of time before we know his identity".

In her first interview with a British newspaper, Ms Plame who is now running for Congress in 2020, said the unmasking of the whistleblower would have a "chilling effect" on the US intelligence community.

The Democrat says her former CIA colleagues already feel under assault by the president's slurs against the intelligence community. " There's a sense of unease and it's certainly clear that President Trump does not hold the intelligence community in esteem, to the contrary he demeans them on a regular basis. It's upsetting and I know many of my former colleagues feel the same," she told The Sunday Telegraph.

She added that the whistleblower, reportedly a CIA analyst seconded to the White House, has "shown true courage and patriotism" by coming forward.

She said Mr Trump's personal attacks on the unknown whistleblower - whom he has referred to as a "spy" and a "traitor" - would stop other people coming forward in future.

Ms Plame was working as an operations chief tasked with preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons when her own cover was blown by officials in George W Bush's administration during the lead-up to the Iraq war.

The move was seen as retaliation for an op-ed written by her then-husband and former diplomat, Joseph Wilson, casting doubt on the Bush administration’s rationale for going to war with Iraq.

The "Plame affair", as it came to be known, rocked the Bush administration and led to a federal investigation and a senior White House official's conviction.

A decade after she quit Washington, Ms Plame is once more causing a stir in the US capital as she plots her return with a fiery campaign video taking aim at those she holds responsible for her own unmasking - as well as Mr Trump.

She believes her former secret life leaves her perfectly equipped to tackle Congress as she vies to represent New Mexico's 3rd congressional district in the House of Representatives.

She described her experience as akin to being "punched in the gut".

"I was concerned on so many levels," she said, describing the scrutiny that fell on everyone with whom she had ever interacted in the course of her covert work. "And of course there's a personal threat, and my children were very small and I was very worried about their physical security."

"You can't go to the grocery store without people looking at you sideways. I found it very disconcerting for many years to go from real anonymity to being such a public person literally overnight and I hope it doesn't happen in this case - but it doesn't seem likely."

However she does have some advice for the as yet unnamed whistleblower: hold your friends and family close. "Once his identity is known, the partisan machines will get cranked up and he will read about this person he doesn't recognise. He will be called every name in the book, his integrity will be called into question, his character, and what kind of salad dressing he puts on, everything.

"It is completely disorienting and it's absolutely crucial that he stay grounded and true to his character. It appears [his decision to come forward] was not a whimsical, arbitrary decision, he gave it some thought. Nevertheless no one has any idea how it's going to unfold - no one ever does."