http://www.newshounds.us/2005/07/22/plame_cia_colleague_points_out_gop_spin.php"The Senate Intelligence Report is frequently cited by Republican
partisans as 'proof' that Valerie sent her husband to Niger because she sent a memo describing her husband's qualifications to the Deputy
Division Chief. Several news personalities, such as Chris Matthews and
Bill O'Reilly continue to repeat this nonsense as proof. What the Senate Intelligence Committee does not include in the report is the fact that Valerie's boss had asked her to write a memo outlining her husband's qualifications for the job. She did what any good employee does; she gave her boss what he asked for.
"The decision to send Joe Wilson on the mission to Niger was made by
Valerie's bosses. She did not have the authority to sign travel
vouchers, issue travel orders, or expend one dime of U.S. taxpayer
dollars on her own. Yet, she has been singled out by the Republican
National Committee and its partisans as a legitimate target of attack.
It was Karl Rove who told Chris Matthews, 'Wilson's wife is fair game.'
"What makes the unjustified and inappropriate attacks on Valerie Plame
and her reputation so unfair is that there was no Administration policy position stipulating that Iraq was trying to acquire uranium in February 2002. That issue was still up in the air and, as noted by SSCI, Vice President Cheney himself asked for more information.