From Media Matters: A June 2 editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times — where Robert Novak’s column originates — “asserted as fact the unproven allegation that former clandestine CIA officer Valerie Plame ‘tried to use the CIA for her own political purposes’.” More below:

The Sun-Times was apparently referring to the allegation that Plame recommended her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, for a 2002 CIA mission to Niger, a claim first reported by Robert D. Novak, whose syndicated column originates at the Sun-Times.

Since Novak first made the unproven claim, the Sun-Times has published several editorials attempting to substantiate it. But a Senate Intelligence Committee report that examined the allegation, as well as conflicting accounts from numerous unnamed intelligence officials, have failed to confirm Novak’s account of Plame’s role. Further, the Sun-Times distorted the original allegation, baselessly claiming that Plame recommended Wilson for “political” reasons.


[Next, Media Matters goes into highly detailed references to investigations and other media reports on the entire Niger/Wilson/CIA matter.]


… While the June 2 Sun-Times editorial referred to her as simply a “CIA employee,” Plame was working undercover at the time of the column. This led Wilson and others to condemn what they saw as the possibly illegal “outing” of a secret operative as retribution for his criticism of the administration. …

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