PROVIDENCE — Valerie Plame Wilson, whose cover as a covert CIA agent was famously blown by top Bush administration officials, told a Brown University audience last night she is pleased that the U.S. intelligence community has released an assessment concluding that Iran halted its covert nuclear weapons campaign in 2003.

“I’m pleased that they have some gumption and have pushed back” against the Bush administration, which has often pointed to Iraq as a rouge nation that is developing a nuclear arsenal, Plame told a packed house on campus last night .

While the new intelligence report appears likely to make President Bush’s “case for war somewhat more problematic,” Plame said, his policies in Iraq and Afghanistan have been a boon to Iran’s government.

“We have done grave damage with our policies in Iraq,” said Plame. “We’ve taken care of Iran’s enemies — the Taliban and Saddam Hussein.”

After her hour-long speech and question-and-answer session, Plame dropped one bombshell almost casually.

She said a lawyer had called her just before her talk began and told her that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald had agreed to turn his transcripts of interviews with Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over to U. S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who is known for his relish for investigating wrongdoing by Republicans.

Plame said she didn’t know whether the Bush administration would allow the transcripts to be sent to Congress.

Plame’s cover as a covert agent was blown on July 14, 2003, when syndicated columnist Robert Novak revealed that she worked for the CIA. It is against federal law to disclose publicly the name of a covert CIA operative.

Her outing came in retaliation for an opinion piece her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador and state department diplomat, wrote for the New York Times. Wilson’s crime was in pointing out that the Bush administration had been deceitful, twisting prewar intelligence to justify the war in Iraq.

Cheney aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby was convicted of perjury in a criminal case stemming from the Plame affair, but President Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence.

A federal judge last July dismissed a federal lawsuit brought by Plame and her husband, former envoy Wilson, that sought to hold Cheney and others personally responsible for damages arising from the disclosure of Plame’s identity.

The judge, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, ruled that the civil suit was preempted by rules that protect federal workers. Bates ruled that the actions of Cheney and other Bush administration officials, though arguably “highly unsavory,” were within the scope of their government employment. Such officials are usually granted immunity from lawsuit as long as their actions fall within the customary duties of government.

Plame and her husband have appealed Bates’ ruling. She said last night that she hopes the matter eventually lands at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wilson spoke at Brown two years ago and only drew about half the 600 people, most of them students, who came to Salomon Hall to hear his wife. The couple, who have two 7-year-old children, have moved from their home in suburban Washington, D.C., to Santa Fe, N.M.

A military brat and the daughter of a World War II veteran, Plame speaks with a near-reverence about her career at the CIA, regaling the audience with war stories about the CIA’s version of boot camp, where aspiring agents are put through a rigorous, even exhausting, regimen of physical and mental pressure.

She enjoyed the challenge of undercover service, living abroad in a James Bond or John Le Carre world, recruiting foreign officials to spy for the United States.

“I had a career I loved,” said Plame.

Living covertly had never bothered her, she said. “It might sound corny, but I really believe I was part of something bigger than myself. Living my cover was for a greater purpose. At the end of the day, this is the greatest country in the world and the greatest hope for making change.”

Plame had harsh words for the journalists who cooperated in betraying her cover and then refused to testify about their sources. “Journalists are not a priestly class,” said Plame. “I clearly have a bias here, but what they were doing was covering up government wrong-doing.”

A 44-year-old runway-thin blonde, Plame’s appearance became an issue after her CIA employment became public and she and her husband were photographed for a Vanity Fair spread. She wore sunglasses and a Grace Kelly scarf.

“After that Vanity Fair article everybody thought you were probably pretty hot,” one male Brown student asked last night.

“How could you tell,” replied Plame. “I was in dark glasses.”

smackay@projo.com