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Fact check

Is it true: Niger yellowcake forgery + Plame affair (2002-2007)?

Confirmed5% confidence

Yes — this is confirmed.

Niger documents were declared forgeries by the IAEA in March 2003. Joseph Wilson's counter-assessment was suppressed; he publicly rebutted the Niger claim in the NYT on 6 July 2003. Valerie Plame's CIA cover was blown by Robert Novak eight days later. Scooter Libby convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007. Bush commuted sentence; Trump pardoned Libby in 2018.

The claim

Forged documents purporting to show Iraq had sought uranium yellowcake from Niger were used to support the case for Iraqi WMD acquisition. Ambassador Joseph Wilson publicly rebutted the claim in the N

Key evidence

Bush State of the Union 2003 cited the Niger claim despite counter-assessment

IAEA declared Niger documents forgeries, March 2003

Read the full evidence file

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