Valerie Plame

By Tricia Romano

SSCI Report

In early October of 2003, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence announced it would hold hearings on the leak. The investigative body was formed after the 1975 Watergate scandal, and oversees the entire U.S. intelligence community. Plame testified before four Senators—two for each party—and recounted her involvement in her husband's trip to Niger.

Seal: U.S. Senate

The SSCI released their findings on July 7, 2004, nearly a year after Wilson's initial column had been printed. The findings were inconclusive. It found that Plame had recommended her husband for the Niger trip, and included a section, titled, "Additional Views," in which the senators were able to pursue more partisan personal views, one Republican senator going so far as to write, "The Committee found that, for most analysts, the former ambassador's report lent more credibility, not less, to the reported Niger-Iraq uranium deal."

Many media outlets picked up the SSCI report and ran with it.

The Washington Post reported "Plame's Input is Cited on Niger Mission—Report Disputes Wilson's Claims on Trip, Wife's Role."

The Wall Street Journal's editorial page excoriated Wilson, using the SSCI report. The editorial was titled: "Mr. Wilson's Defense: Why the Plame Special Prosecutor Should Close Up Shop."

Condoleeza Rice

National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice noted that Wilson was "just one source," and "therefore, his information wasn't reliable. "

Wilson, in turn, released his book, The Politics of Truth, which talked about the Plame scandal and the leak, as well as his long career in foreign affairs.

During the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Wilson learned that a mass fax had gone out to all the reporters about the SSCI report, excoriating him.